Red Rogue, Rise of an Antihero
by SAK-96
Summary: When a Force-sensitive vigilante is taken from Earth by space pirates and literally dropped into Coruscant, he just keeps on doing what he does best: blasting away anyone who deserves it. Pretty soon he adds the Separatist Alliance to the list and starts going after them, even though the Republic doesn't exactly want his help.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Star Wars or its characters, those belong to Disney. I only own my OCs.**

 _Chapter 1: Red Rogue Begins_

 **Inside the cargo hold of some Weequay's flying saucer ship flying to who knows where…**

 **December 17, 2018**

 **Jacob's POV**

A 17-year-old human male sits against a wall while holding his backpack on his lap. He's Caucasian, 6'1", has short dark brown hair, steel eyes, and an athletic build. He's wearing a hooded black leather jacket with a black T-shirt underneath, dark blue jeans, and black leather boots. This guy also happens to be a high-functioning sociopath who's spent the past four years travelling all over the United States acting as a vigilante, taking out murderers, rapists, human traffickers, arms dealers, gangs, and even a drug cartel at one point with little to no injuries.

You're probably wondering how the hell a teenager was able to pull all this stuff off without getting hurt or killed. Well you see, this individual is not like anyone else on Earth. He has what he and a bunch of other people would call "super powers"; among them is the ability to move and react quicker than anyone else, to sense where an attack is about to land and the most alarming of all, being able to move people and objects at will without have to touch them. The best way to describe this is telekinesis, but it's obviously so much more than that since he's done more than just move stuff around with it. With some people, he can talk them into doing whatever such as letting him buy some beer without showing his I.D., making an ATM machine dispense all the money it has, make it much easier for him to hotwire any vehicle, and much more.

You're now probably wondering how I know so much about this guy. I know this because I am this guy. My name is Jacob Callahan, and my life has taken a strange turn, apart from me having these freaky yet awesome powers. So I had just left Las Vegas after taking out a big-time crime lord who was moving a ton of drugs, guns, and sex slaves through his casino when my 2015 Dodge Ram just broke down in the middle of the fucking desert. When I got out and popped open the hood, I found that a bullet had gone through the engine block. Honestly, I was amazed the truck made it out this far with that kind of damage.

I had no way of fixing the truck, so I just picked up my backpack from the passenger seat and started walking. It was about, what, twenty minutes of walking along the side of the road in the middle of the night and not a single car in sight when I hear some footsteps about ten feet or so behind me. When I turned around, all I saw before blacking out was some brown-skinned being with small horns on his cheeks smiling at me before a blue ring of light was fired from the gun he was holding. Next thing I know, I'm locked in what I assume to be the cargo hold of their space ship. I can hear laughing, so I know that there's more than one of them and by the sound of it, they're definitely high on something. Weird thing is they didn't search me or my pack, so either they're stupid or so fucked up they can't even do a kidnapping right. Probably both.

"Alright, we're here. Slen, open the cargo doors. Let's how this dumbass human likes Coruscant." I hear a British-sounding voice call out. Kind of weird how they're speaking perfect English right now.

Suddenly, a set of two large doors to my left slowly begin to slide open. I quickly get up and slip my backpack on thinking that we're about to land. When the doors open just enough to see out of, I see one of the coolest things ever. It's a city, a BIG, very advanced city. It was nighttime, so all the buildings were lit up. It was nothing but tall buildings as far as the eye can see. And the cars, man, the cars here can fly. Literally. I stick my head out the door and look down at the lit up streets far, far below. 'Jesus, we're really high up. I should probably back away from the ledge now in case the douchebags flying this thing make a sudden turn-'

My thought is interrupted when without warning, the ship tilts sideways. And with my shitty luck tonight, I fall right out.

"FUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCKKKKKK!" I scream at the top of my lungs as I begin to plummet towards the ground below.

Now I'm starting to panic since I'm about to become paste when I hit the concrete. My brain's in overdrive on how I'm going to survive this when I notice that I'm falling directly towards a line of traffic.

'THAT'S IT! THE CARS!'

I've jumped off of skyscrapers before to escape the police and survived by using my abilities to cushion my fall. If I can time it just right, I should be able to land on one of the cars without sustaining any serious injuries. I see that I'm about to land on what looks like a red convertible, so I get ready.

'Three…two…one!'

I don't know how, but I pull it off. It feels like I got whiplash from landing in the passenger seat, but I'm alive.

"YES! I MADE IT MOTHERFUCKERS!" I yell towards the sky as my heart beats like a drum solo in a heavy metal concert. Now all I had to do was ask whoever is driving this flying car to SAFELY drop me off on the ground.

"Hey buddy, sorry for dropping in on you like this. Can you let me off at the closest street-" I freeze as soon as I see the driver who's staring back at me. Whatever he is, he's definitely NOT human. I mean he looks like a lizard that's been crossed with a man for fuck's sake. Hmm, maybe this is one of those "Reptillians" that one crazy dude with tin-foil on his head was screaming about back when I visited L.A.. We just continue staring at each other for a few more seconds until the lizard man's expression (at least from what I can tell) goes from shocked to pissed off.

"….Please?" I finish my previous question.

His answer came in the form of a weird-looking pistol being pulled out from under his seat. I instantly see where this is going and before he can get his sights lined up on my head, I grab the barrel of his gun with one hand and push it upwards.

*PEW*

A red bolt of light shoots out of the gun towards the sky. That shot alone already heats up the barrel I'm still holding.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing!?" I yell at the driver.

"Think you can jack my ride punk? You're a dead man!" he responds as he begins to use the large amount of strength he has to bring his weapon downwards as he continues to steer the car.

'Oh fuck it.'

With my free hand, I pull my Glock 17 pistol out of my waistband. Pointing it at the reptillian's face, I pull the trigger.

*BANG*

Blood sprays out of the back of his head as soon as the bullet tears through his skull. His body then slumps forward. Right onto the steering controls. The car takes a sudden nosedive.

"Okay, maybe I should have just shot him in the stomach!" I yell to myself as I push the body off of the controls and grab them to level the car out. The guy's foot is still on the accelerator, so the car's still moving pretty fast. I need to get in the driver's seat before the car crashes into something.

"Sorry man." I say to the dead lizard guy as I use my powers to lift him out of his seat and throw him out of the car.

'Man, I hope no one saw that. Okay, let's see what we got here.' I think to myself as I climb into the driver seat.

Strangely enough, the controls on this vehicle are very similar to those of cars back home, except for the fact that the "steering wheel" on this thing looks like something you'd see in the cockpit of an aircraft. Besides that, it seems to have both brake and accelerator pedals. It takes a few awkward minutes of trying to line up behind the cars in front of me as well as figuring out how to match their speed, but I eventually get the hang of it. Then it takes me about five minutes to find a place to park and get out, and while doing so I was just taking in the view of the city that I'm pretty sure I'm now stuck in. So I carefully land and turn off the car before leaning back in my seat and taking a deep breath.

"Fuck me, what a night I'm having right now. If only this were just a dream… but it's not." I say to myself as I pull out something that should allow me to chill out; pot, already rolled in a piece of paper, and a lighter.

*FLICK* *FLICK*

I place the roach in between my lips, light it, and take a couple of puffs before exhaling. Okay, so what's my situation here? I'm obviously on an alien planet since I'm looking at a lot of people who are of many different species walking on the sidewalk, humans included, which makes me wonder if they were abducted too or are descendants of those who were abducted. I don't know anyone here, but English for whatever reason seems to be the dominant language here, so at least I can talk to people. Another problem is money; I got plenty of cash in my backpack and pockets from Vegas, but I can already tell that Dollars won't be accepted here. So in other words, I'm broke, but that can easily be fixed by a visit to an ATM, whatever they look like here. Now what am I going to do here? Should I be trying to find a way back to Earth? I know I should be flipping out right now since I'm on another planet with a civilization and technology more advanced than what's back on my world like any other normal person would, but I'll be honest, I think that this place is fucking awesome! Sure, it's full of aliens with an alphabet I can't really read, but I don't really care about that. I'll adapt and learn the written language eventually. For now, let's see what fun stuff there is to do here.

 **Twenty minutes later…**

 **3** **rd** **Person POV**

So after abandoning his "borrowed" ride and using the Force to clear out an ATM machine he comes across, Jacob explores Galactic City while using his smartphone to take photos and videos of anything he found interesting or just plain funny, particularly the Jedi Temple which he was impressed by and getting a weird feeling from. He hears a lot of chatter on the streets, mostly about the conflict called the "Clone Wars", that's raging right now, being fought between two factions known as the Republic and the Separatist Alliance. On the Republic's side is a religious group known as the Jedi Order and the Grand Army of the Republic which is almost entirely made up of human clones who wear full suits of white armor. On the Separatists' side is a massive army of droids and a few evil Force users known as the Sith. Jacob also hears rumors of the atrocities being committed by the Separatists which causes him make a mental note to do whatever he can to fuck with them.

However, he'll soon find out just how corrupt and crime-filled Coruscant is.

 **Jacob's POV**

I'm walking on the sidewalk when I see a place that REALLY gets my attention. I can't read what the red neon sign above says, but the silhouette of one of those very attractive female Twi'lek people I've seen around tells me all I need to know about this place; It's a gentleman's club, and I could, uhhh, use a drink. The only obstacle between me and the Club is a big human bouncer, but getting past him won't be a problem for me.

"Not old enough kid. Go home." He says to me as I approach.

"I'm old enough to go inside." I reply while waving my hand in front of his face.

"You're old enough to go inside." The bouncer agrees as he steps aside.

Damn, this is the biggest strip club I've ever seen and daaaaaaaaamn, the women here are gorgeous. Most of them were Twi'leks while others were either humans or Togrutas. There were plenty of lights that illuminated the club, and the music was enough to drown out your voice if you didn't speak loud enough. A few dancers were up on the stage while the rest were walking around the club serving drinks, giving lap dances, or taking patrons through a doorway that even I can tell is marked "V.I.P. Area". I guess that's where they give private lap dances to their high-roller patrons.

I walk up to the bar to order a drink.

"Yeah, I'll have a beer." I place my order.

"Sure thing. I just need to see your I.D. first." Says the bartender.

"You don't need to see it." I reply

"I don't need to see it. One beer coming right up." he agrees as he goes to fill up a glass.

As soon as my drink arrives, I find a seat and watch a half-naked Twi'lek on the stage who's just finishing her dance. Seconds after she disappears past some curtains leading to the backstage, a human woman steps out to take her place. I'm in the middle of taking a sip of my beer when I notice something strange about this dancer. She's _young_.

… _Too young_.

There is no fucking way she's 18. I can tell by just looking at her, and that's when I notice another red flag: there's some kind of metal collar around her neck. I begin to look at the rest of the girls in the club; more than a few of them look underage and ALL of them had those collars on.

'Jesus fucking Christ, what kind of establishment are these people running here?'

My focus then turns to the security. Even for a big club, there was A LOT of guards here dressed in all-black formal-looking attire and I can see the shapes of pistols printing through their jackets. And the patrons ranged from common lowlifes to individuals who looked like government officials.

"Excuse me, would you like a 'private dance'?"

My head snaps to the source of the sweet-sounding voice. Standing only a foot to my right is a young Togruta girl with solid-orange skin and white facial markings, white and blue striped head-tails (though I heard those were called "lekku") and blue eyes. She wore only a velvet-blue bra and panties… as well as a collar like all the other girls. Above all else, she's beautiful. I guess I was so focused on everything else going on around me that I didn't notice her walking up.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention. What was it you were asking me?" I ask as I try very hard to keep my eyes on her head instead of her breasts.

"I was just asking if you'd like me to take you the V.I.P. Area to give you a private dance." She says to me with a smile that I can tell was being forced.

The way she was saying "private dance" just now is giving me a pretty good idea about what goes on in the back. Well, that's settles it. Time to find out what the fuck is going on in this place.

"Sure, lead the way beautiful." I answer before getting up and downing the rest of my beer.

I follow her through the crowd and can't help but steal a few glances at her rear as we approach the V.I.P. Area, the entrance of which is being guarded by two guys, a human and a Duros. Evidently, they're only supposed to be keeping out people who aren't going back there with any of the girls, so they don't bother me as we walk past them. After going up two flights of stairs, we walk into a hallway with a row of doors on both sides. Judging by the sounds coming from behind some of the doors we walk past, it pretty much confirms that this place isn't just a gentleman's club.

It was also a brothel.

'After I'm done getting answers from this girl, I think I'm going to go "complain" to the club's owner about child labor and the poor working conditions he has going on here.'

The Togruta stops at one of the doors and opens it. I follow her inside and see that it's, of course, a bedroom. I can already sense how nervous she's getting as she stands next to the bed for a moment, which indicates that this very well may be her first time doing this, before slowly reaching behind her back to undo her bra.

"No, no, no, no, I just want to talk. You don't need to do that." I quickly tell her.

She turns back to me with a surprised look on her face before sitting down on the bed.

"Okay? What is it that you want to talk about?" she asks me cautiously.

"First off, are there any cameras or microphones in here?" I ask in a hushed voice. I need to know if I have to be careful with what I say.

"…No, they don't have anything like that in these rooms. Why are you asking me this?" she was starting to get a little scared now.

I walk up and sit down on the bed next to her before continuing.

"What's your name and how old are you?"

"My name's Anya Tano… I'm sixteen."

"That collar you're wearing… are they keeping you and the other girls here against your will?"

"If we try to leave the club, the collars will shock us until we're out cold." Anya answers.

'Well, at least the collars don't explode. Still, getting shocked can be very painful depending on the amount of voltage.'

"Can… can you get mine off?" Anya asks me, a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

Goddamn, those eyes… I've resisted the "puppy eyes" plenty of times before, but this is something I just can't say no to.

"Hold still. I'll see what I can do." I tell Anya as I raise both my hands to either side of her collar and concentrate.

With my powers, I can feel that Anya's collar was on pretty tight, making me wonder how she's still able to breath. I begin to pull; the collar holds for a few seconds, but soon it begins to rattle before finally splitting in half. Both halves fall to the floor with a thud. Anya stares down at her now-broken collar before looking back at me, eyes wide with disbelief.

"You're a Jedi!?" she exclaims.

"Keep it down! No, I'm not one of those Jedi people." I correct her.

"But I thought only the Jedi could use the Force!" Anya points out.

"The what?" I ask in confusion.

"What you did with my collar just now. Are you saying that you've never heard of the Force?" She asks me in surprise.

"I'm new here, so yeah, this is the first time I'm hearing of it." I reply.

The Force? So I guess that's what people around here call my powers. I like it. Anya begins to rub the area of her neck where here collar had been before asking me her next question.

"So you're not a Jedi, and you're not here to get laid. What did you come in here for then?"

"First off, I had no idea that this place is also a brothel. I thought it was just a strip club. I only came in here to get a few drinks and watch a couple of dances before moving on to find something else to do. But you see, I'm what you call a vigilante, meaning I kick scumbags' asses for a living. So now…" I lead off on my sentence to get Anya's full attention.

"…I think I'm going to have a little chat with the owner of this establishment." I finish.

"Uhhh, I don't think that would be a good idea. Lug isn't someone who's easily intimidated. Plus he's got a lot of men." Anya tells me with a skeptical look.

"… Did you just say his name is 'Lug'?" I flat out ask before bursting out laughing.

God, what kind of moron would have such a stupid-sounding name?

"Yeah, laugh all you want. I promise you that Lug is one of the meanest Trandoshans in the Galaxy." Anya replies with her eyes narrowed in annoyance since I'm not taking "Lug" seriously.

"Okay, okay. Just tell me where his office is and I'll take care of the rest." I say as my laughter dies down.

"Just take the next left further down the hall, it's the door with a guard standing in front of it. What are you going to do?" Anya asks as I stand up.

"I'm going to pop him, take whatever money he has in his office, kill anyone in this place who "disagrees" with me killing their boss and taking their payroll, and get the fuck out of here before the cops show up." I tell her the truth.

She just sits on her bed and stares at me as I make my way to the door.

"Anya, you got anything else to wear besides what you got on now? Anything that doesn't show… well, almost everything?" I ask.

"N-No, they didn't give me anything else. Why?" Her lekku darkens when she hears what I ask, leaving me to assume that it's the Togrutas' version of blushing.

Okay, I admit it. I'm already starting to care about this girl because right now, she's pretty much the closest person I have to a friend in this city. I don't want some creep oggling and trying anything funny with her all because she's showing way too much skin in public.

"Tell you what, after I get done with these pricks, I'll come back here, loan you my jacket, and get you out of this shithole. Then I'll buy you a proper outfit and if you'd like, we can go our separate ways from there. What do you say?" I give her my offer.

She takes a few moments to think before giving me her answer.

"Alright, just please don't forget about me."

"I'll be back here in like five or ten minutes." I say as I begin to walk out the door.

"Wait!" Anya calls out, making me stop and turn.

"You didn't tell me your name."

"Callahan. Jacob Callahan." I give her my name before walking away.

 **3** **rd** **Person POV**

A lone human guard stands outside of Lug Vlossk's office, where his boss and two of his coworkers were counting tonight's profits like every other night, which is why he's surprised when a young man wearing a backpack appears from around the corner. Jacob had put on his best panicked expression to fool the guard.

"Hey, this area is off limits." The guard begins to say before Jacob cuts him off.

"Oh thank God! Look, you gotta help! The girl I came up here with, Anya, she's coughing up blood!" Jacob pleads to the guard.

"What!? Where is she now?" the guard asks, clearly alarmed by this.

"She's back in her room! Hurry!" Jacob shouts before disappearing around the corner he came from.

The guard begins to run from his post to make sure that the club's newest "employee" doesn't choke to death on her own blood, knowing that Lug will not be pleased if something like that happens to any of his _property._ The guard is just turning around the corner when-

*SHICK*

A blade of an Out-The-Front automatic knife pierces his throat. Jacob watches as the life drains out of the dying guard's eyes, his expression cold and emotionless. He pulls his knife out and wipes the blood off with the dead guard's jacket before retracting the blade and placing it back into his jacket pocket. Now it was time for Jacob to gear up; sliding his backpack off, he opens it and pulls out a few items. First thing he pulls out is a Mossberg 500 12-gauge shotgun he had managed to cram into his pack thanks to it being outfitted with just a pistol grip and an 18.5 inch barrel. Next came a bandolier filled with ammo for his shotgun which he immediately puts on. After that was a few extra magazines for his Glock which he stuffs into his jacket pockets. And finally, he pulls out and puts on a red ski mask, something that has become his signature over the years. Sliding his backpack over one shoulder, he switches the safety off on his Mossberg and casually enters the office.

For a strip club/brothel that profits off of enslaved women, some of whom are not even 16 like Anya, it actually had a pretty nice office. The floors and ceiling appear to be made out of polished black marble and opposite from the door is a plate-glass window that overlooks the whole club. Lug Vlossk, a 6'5" male Trandoshan who's been buying from slave traffickers for years, his newest supplier being the recently-returned Zygerrian Slave Empire, was sitting at his Kriin-wood desk counting tonight's profits with the help of two of his men when suddenly someone wearing a red mask and wielding what looks like some kind of slugthrower comes in and points his weapon at them.

"Good evening gentleman." Jacob greets the startled trio with a cheery voice.

Lug remains in his seat while his men slowly back away from the desk.

"Who the kriff are you!? Lug demands. His shock was already wearing off and is now starting to get angry.

"Oh, me? I'm the guy who's going to rob and put you out of business. By the way Mr. Vlossk, are you aware that quite a few of your so-called employees are underage, dancing on-stage while wearing next to nothing up front and fucking patrons in the back? Pedophiles must really love this place, especially since it's more than likely run by one." Jacob says while straight-up insulting Lug to his face.

And Lug was indeed pissed.

"THAT'S IT! KILL THIS KRIFFING-"

*BOOM*

A very loud blast from Jacob's shotgun fills the room, making the ears of everyone inside ring. The two guards have looks of horror plastered on their faces as they gaze upon a gruesome sight; Lug Vlossk's head was GONE, reduced to a mess of torn flesh, bone fragments, brain matter, and blood that's been splattered onto the window behind him.

*CHA-CHIK*

The sound of Jacob racking his weapon shakes them out of their shock.

"You." Jacob points his Mossberg at the guard on his left before tossing him his backpack.

"Put all of money you have on the desk and in that open safe you got there into that bag." Jacob commands, nodding towards the wall safe that had been conveniently left open, probably because Lug was getting ready to put the money his club made tonight into it with the rest. There had to be thousands of credits in there.

While Jacob watches the guard feverishly filling the pack up with credits, he sees out of the corner of his eye that the other guard, a male Zabrak, was slowly moving his hand towards his hip where his blaster is holstered. In a split second, Jacob turns the shotgun on the other guard and fires just as the Zabrak was drawing his weapon. The double-aught-buckshot payload hits him right in the chest, sending him tumbling backwards.

And straight through the window.

The screaming starts almost immediately after the body hits the stage. Patrons begin scrambling to flee the club as security yelled into their comlinks while trying to push past the panicking crowd to reach the office where the apparent threat is located. Jacob knew it would just be over a minute at most before they reach the office.

"Is that all the money?" Jacob shouts at the last remaining guard in the room.

"Y-y-yeah. That's all of it." He stutters out as he finishes pissing himself.

"Put the bag down, hands against the wall." Jacob orders.

The guard does as instructed. Jacob then walks up and slams the rear of the weapon into the back of his head, knocking him unconscious. Lifting the credit-filled bag off the floor, Jacob dashes out of the office and towards Anya's room with about 40 seconds left before some of Vlossk's men come up the stairs to his location. Jacob reaches Anya's door and opens it, throwing in his backpack.

"Anya, watch my bag for me and lock the door." He quickly says and dashes off before Anya can say a word.

With the extra weight off his back, Jacob quickly tops off his shotgun and takes cover behind a corner just as four guards come running up the stairs.

"Ajax fell from the boss' room! Let's get this kriffer before he gets away!" one of them shouts as they run down the hallway towards Jacob. He waits until they're in the middle of the hall between him and the stairs, where they'll have no cover. Leaning out of his cover, Jacob opens fire, killing one and wounding another with his first shot. He chambers another shell and fires again, killing another guard. The fourth guard begins firing at him and forces Jacob back into cover. The guard takes the time to try and call for back up with his comlink.

"The slimo's got a goddamn scattergun! We need more guys up here now-"

Just then, Jacob pops back out of cover and lands a shot on the guard's throat. The second guard to enter the hallway, the one that had been wounded, crawls toward the blaster he had dropped and leaving a trail of blood as Jacob walks towards him. Right when he's about to grab it to shoot Jacob, the latter kicks the blaster out of his reach and blows his head off. Jacob had heard the fourth guard call for backup, which meant that more would be coming up the stairs soon. He reloads his shotgun as he approaches the stairs to meet them. Three more guards are running up the stairs when Jacob runs into them and fires; because they're at such close range, each of the 9 .33-caliber pellets penetrate the guard up front and hits the one behind him, resulting in a double-kill. Jacob then kills the other one with another shot as he continues his way down the stairs.

The scene on the main floor was chaos. There were still a lot of people trying to flee with the patrons making a beeline for the exit while the girls ran backstage to hide in the dressing room. Because of this, most of the 40 remaining guards still haven't been able to take defensive positions yet. All they had heard about the shooter was that they were using a scattergun, a devastating weapon at close range, but one with a notably low shot capacity as well as a long reload time. The plan was to wait for the shooter to fire so many times before they have to stop and reload, giving them an opening to rush him. Pretty soon, one of them spots an armed man in a red mask bursting out of the V.I.P. Area.

 **Jacob's POV**

Adrenaline continues to surge through me as I sprint out onto the main floor where the music was still blaring. Geez, people still haven't cleared out of here yet? I know most of the patrons in here are scumbags, but I don't want any civilian casualties. Maybe I should switch to my pist- Shit!

I blast away the head of a guard who had popped out from behind a table. All the sudden, dozens of red lasers come flying at me. Even though the bolts of energy strangely only have as much velocity as a pellet being fired out of a low-powered airsoft gun, I still don't want to get hit by any of them since 1) that would burn like hell and 2) I'm sure that a direct hit to the center mass or head would kill me. Thinking fast, I run n' gun my way to the bar and vault over it to get to cover.

"He went behind the bar!" I hear one of them yell.

I pop out and shoot two guards who were running for closer cover. I go for a third, but my shotgun instead clicks empty which forces me to duck back into cover.

"He's empty! Now's our chance! RUSH HIM!" one shouts.

'Rush me? Wow, you guys are making it way too easy for me. Time for the Glock.'

Sensing all the guards running towards me, I lay my shotgun on the floor and draw my pistol before once again popping out of cover. Time slows down for me as I place shot after shot into the head of each guard charging my position until my 17-round magazine runs dry. I duck back into cover to reload, placing the empty magazine into my jacket pocket as I swap it out for a loaded one. I'm pretty sure that no gun shop or black market dealer here sells spare magazines or even ammo for my guns. I should really look into getting some new weapons after this.

Their idea of charging me while I was reloading having failed spectacularly, the remaining guards begin using overturned tables for cover.

'Time for me to finish this.'

Leaving my shotgun behind as I dash out from behind the bar, I begin using the Force with one hand to toss tables aside, giving me a clear shot at the guards. I do this about five times over and killing 7 more guards in the process before the rest catch on to what's happening.

"This maniac's a freakin' Jedi!? Kriff this, I'm out!" one of the guards, a Rodian, tries to flee, but two of my 9mm hollow points that goes into his back drops him. Another guard suddenly pops out from behind a table and takes a shot at me. His shot misses my head by 3 inches before I snap my sights on him and put two rounds in his chest, making him hit the floor. Two more jump out from behind another table; I put another two rounds into one's chest, dodge a shot from the guy and put one shot in his chest and another in his head. I put the last two rounds in the magazine into a guard just as he was rising from cover. I simply let the empty magazine fall to the ground this time as I load another fresh one. I use the Force to throw an entire row of tables out of the way, exposing six surprised guards this time. I quickly kill them with a head shot each before continuing on. As I'm walking by one table, a guard jumps out at me and knocks my Glock out of my hands. He tries sticking his pistol in my face, but I grab it with both hands and the two of us begin to struggle for control of the weapon. Out of the corner of my eye, I see yet another guard getting out of cover and lining up a shot on me, probably trying to make sure he doesn't hit his ally. I turn my opponent with his back towards the other guard and throw him using the Force. He sails right into the other guy, making them both fall to the floor in a heap. Wasting no time, I call my Glock back to my hand and double tap both of them.

"Shit, that was actually a pretty good move they tried to pull." I say to myself.

Suddenly, someone presses the barrel of their weapon to the back of my head. I stay perfectly still for a few seconds before a voice behind me speaks up.

"Any last words?"

This isn't the first time someone has pulling this move on me, so I take a deep breath and give him my answer as I prepare counter him.

"It was short, but it was a wild ride." I tell him. Now to spin around and-

*PEW* *THUD*

'What the fuck!?' My heart skips a beat when I hear that shot, but immediately know that it wasn't me who got shot since I'm still standing and that the shot sounded like it had come from a few feet to my right. I open my eyes and turn around to find my would-be killer dead on the floor with a hole burned through his head, which now makes me wonder who just saved my life. And all it takes is for me to find that out is looking to where the shot came from, and the answer surprises me. Standing there with a pistol still smoking in her hand and my backpack over her shoulder is Anya. And damn, does that sight looks sexy as hell. She drops the gun and looks around the club. Now empty except for the two of us, blood, bodies, dropped weapons and shell casings littered the whole place.

"Wowwww, you really did a number on this place, and I saw what you did to Lug. Did you actually kill them all?" she asks, clearly amazed that I pulled this off without even getting hurt.

"What the hell Anya? I thought you were going to wait for me to come get you?" I ask as if my life hadn't just been in serious danger.

"Well I guess it was a good thing I didn't then seeing how he was going to blast you in the back of the head!" she shoots back.

"I had it under control; I was just about to spin around, elbow his gun away, and shoot him in the face until you beat me to the punch. Anyway, you ready to go?"

"Kriff yes! Let's get out of here!" she says while handing me my backpack.

Leaving through the front door was out of the question since the police will be here any minute, so after I retrieve the pistol magazine I dropped earlier as well as my Mossberg from behind the bar, Anya leads me towards the dressing room where there's a back door that usually locked. While moving through the dressing room, we pass by all the girls and women hiding in there. I still got my mask on and my shotgun out, so of course they start freaking out.

"Hey ladies, I loved your dancing. But as much as I'd love to get to know you all better, me and law enforcement usually don't get along, so I gotta scram." I say to them before continuing towards the back door with Anya. The door is indeed locked, but a shotgun blast to the mechanism keeping it that way seems to do the trick. Both Anya and I run out into and alley and begin putting some distance between us and the club just as the cops begin to swarm it. After walking in the alley for a minute, we stop when we see the end of the alley leading into the street.

"Okay let's stop here for a minute." I say before catching my breath with Anya doing the same.

"Anya, even though I was about pull a reversal on that last guy back there, you saved my life. Thank you." I tell her as I pull my mask off and begin to cram it, my bandolier, and my shotgun back into my pack. It's a pretty tight squeeze with all the money.

"Jacob, you just saved me from a fate worse than death, so I'm pretty sure we're at least even. And thank you for getting me out of there." She says to me with a smile. A real one this time.

"Nice shot back there. You've ever handled a gun before?" I ask, complimenting her skill with a handgun and returning the smile while I'm at it. She's got some talent, that much I'm certain.

"That was actually my first time even holding a blaster." Anya admits with a sheepish grin.

We both stay silent for a few seconds before without warning, Anya walks up and hugs me.

"Seriously Jacob, thank you for freeing me from that horrible place."

"Don't mention it. I just can't stand people who think they can get away with doing that kind of stuff." I reply as I wrap my arms around Anya's back to comfort her a little more.

The feel of her skin was surprisingly soft and smooth and the warmth of her body felt good, definitely a nice contrast to the cold nighttime of this city. But then another thought pops up that bothers me.

"Anya? How long did they have you there? Did any of them… did you have to take anyone else back to your room before…" I awkwardly try to ask. It just felt weird asking a girl these kind of questions, especially when it concerns something that could very well be a traumatic experience for them.

"Oh no, no. They grabbed me off the street only a few days ago. Honestly, I thought you were going to be my first one until you decided to go ahead and shoot up the place." Anya explains while breaking away from the hug.

"Guess it was a good thing I showed up when I did then. By the way, why did you choose me as your 'first'? There were at least a hundred other slimeballs you could've picked and I'm well aware of how… rough I look." I really was wondering why she walked up to me in the first place. With how I'm dressed as well as the dark look around my eyes from going nights at a time without sleep, I look more like some punk who will slit your throat for whatever money you have on you.

"Okay, I'll admit that you kinda looked like a drug dealer when I first saw you. But if I was going to do it with anyone, it'd be someone at least close to my age. And a little cute." Anya say, adding that last part in quickly.

'She thinks I'm cute?' I think to myself as I feel my face starting to heat up.

I look down from her eyes in an attempt to hide my blush, but when I do, I instantly remember another problem that should really be dealt with immediately.

"Fuck! Here I am rambling on while you're standing out here in the cold wearing friggin' lingerie. Here, put this on." I say while taking off and handing her my jacket.

Being reminded of her clothing predicament, Anya quickly puts it on. She's a few inches shorter than me, so my jacket covers down to her upper thighs. Hopefully anyone we walk by will just think that she's wearing really short-shorts, though her lack of shoes will probably draw some attention. It'll have to do until we find a store.

 _15 minutes later…_

We finally find a store after quite a bit of walking and me sending a glare to anyone I caught looking at Anya the wrong way. I had explained to her along the way that I can't read the language here so that she'd have to point out which place was a clothing store. It turns out that Anya hasn't been here that long herself, but knew that there was a store a few blocks over.

While Anya is in the fitting rooms putting on her new clothes that I had just got done paying for after I had told her to pick out whatever she liked, I wait for her just outside. I'm actually surprised that a store like this is open this late at night, although one of those droid things standing behind the counter pretty much explains why that is.

Now that I've finished helping Anya out, I now have to find a place to live until I can find a way back to Earth, though to be fair I lived like a nomad there as well since I always had to constantly be on the move to avoid cops who want to bust me for vigilantism, and criminal hit squads hired to kill me by the various enemies I've made over the years, at least the ones that are still alive. Coruscant, however, isn't like Earth. Literally the entire planet is a single massive city with many, many layers stacked on top of each other, which means that the "local police force" here has planet-wide jurisdiction, so it would be pointless moving place to place unless it's to one of those other planets I've heard about. But I'll need a spaceship to do that, as well as learn how to fly one. For now, I need a place to stay. I'd hate to ask Anya this, but…

"Hey, Anya?" I call into the fitting rooms.

"Yeah?" she answers.

"You got a place here in this city?" I ask

"I was in the middle of looking for one that doesn't cost too much. Problem is that even the run-down apartments have high rates. Then I stopped in some place to get a drink. Next thing I knew, I woke up in Lug's club with that damn collar clamped tight around my neck." Anya explains before walking out wearing brown boots, khaki cargo pants, and a sleeveless navy-blue shirt.

"How do I look?" she asks as she gives me my jacket back.

"Like any other teenage girl. Definitely not someone who was a slave at a brothel twenty minutes ago." I blurt out while slipping the jacket back on, immediately starting to regret saying that second part. Thankfully, Anya doesn't seem to take offense and actually giggles at what I just said.

"I would have taken 'great', but I guess that's good too."

"So this place where you evidently got drugged, do you remember where it's at? Because I'd very much like to have a few words with whoever had your drink spiked." I ask to change the subject, but at the same time wanting to beat the hell out of whoever's responsible for Anya ending up at that fucking club in the first place.

"No, I can't remember. My memory of that day is just too fuzzy. Honestly, I just want to find a place for us to stay now that I got my life back." She says to me.

'Wait, did she just say "us"?'

"Us?" I ask to make sure I heard her right.

"After all you've done for me, it's the least I can do… Even though I got you out of that jam. Plus I wouldn't mind having a roommate who can help pay the rent and is also a friend." She confirms.

"In that case, I think I might be able to help out with the price of whichever place we find." I say, accepting her offer.

"Anya, do you know where some of the _nicer_ apartments are located?"

 _The next day…_

"Alright Mr. Callahan and Ms. Tano, we're all done here. Enjoy your new home." The Muun realtor says before handing us the key to our new home and walks away.

Anya and I then walk into to an elevator and push the button for the top floor. We both remain silent as the elevator ascends, so I decide to break the ice.

"Well, I think I talked him down to a pretty good price."

"You straight-up lowballed him while using a Jedi Mind Trick Jacob." Anya points out, still annoyed about what I just pulled.

"Come on, Anya! That guy wanted eight grand a month for this place! I'm only willing to pay as much as a thousand a month. Plus the five-thousand credit down payment." I argue.

"Which you were about to talk out of paying until I stepped in." she counters.

"You elbowed me in the ribs!" I exclaim.

"Well now I'm just worried that this will come back to bite us in the ass." Anya sighs.

The Elevator reaches our floor. We step out and begin walking to the door of our new home.

"If it does, please let me handle it. And besides…"

I unlock and open the door.

"This loft was just too awesome to pass up."

On the other side of the door is a luxury loft, literally one of the nicest places I've ever seen. Located upstairs is the bedroom which has a king-sized bed, an 80-inch holovision mounted on the wall across from the bed, a walk-in closet, and a bathroom that has white marble floor, walls, and sink along with a walk-in shower. Down on the main floor is a kitchen left from the front door, a Jacuzzi on the right that I'm totally going to chill out in at some point, and the living room in the center, which has a black leather recliner, a black leather couch, an expensive-looking glass coffee table, and a big-ass 160-inch holovision also mounted on the wall opposite of the couch and chair. Beyond the living room is the massive plate-glass window and door leading out onto the balcony which has an incredible view of Coruscant's skyline.

"You got me there. I never thought I've even see the inside of a place like this." Anya replies as she looks around the loft.

It's been a long day for the both of us, so the first thing we both do is sit on the couch. And god was it comfy. After setting my backpack down at the foot of the couch, taking off my jacket, pulling off my boots, and setting my Glock on the coffee table with Anya simply pulling off her boots, I grab the remote and switch on this planet's version of a TV. The channel it's tuned just happens to be the news, and the story right now is of course about the shootout at Lug Vlossk's club/brothel, which was apparently called the Despot Club. This definitely isn't the first time I've watched a news report about a big shootout I was recently involved in, so I don't really pay any attention until I hear them referring to me by an… interesting name.

The Red Rogue.

Well, that's a first for me. The news reports back home always just called me a vigilante.

"Red Rogue. I like the sound of that name." Anya comments.

"Yeah, me too." I reply as reports of other heinous appear on the screen. And goddamn, there were a lot of them. Even the most corrupt, crime-infested place on Earth pales in comparison to Coruscant.

So many asses to kick…

I think I'm going to have my hands full here for a while.

 **Special thanks to DFM23 for giving me some advice for this chapter. And for those of you wondering, Anya is Ahsoka's older sister.**


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2: Spying on the Spies_

 **Coruscant, Level 1479**

 **January 23, 2019**

 **One month later…**

 **Jacob's POV**

It's been very busy for me for the past month since I got here. First, I had to buy Anya's and my own Christmas presents since I have no family and she's my only friend who has no idea what Christmas is. Which didn't really surprise me since I am living on an alien planet. She had no idea what I was talking about when I told her "Merry Christmas" before handing her my gift. I think she also said something about it not being "Life Day" yet; I guess that's what these people call Christmas around here. Anyway, before I went out and got the presents, I asked her a few questions about what kind of stuff she's into. Turns out she's "a little" into computer hacking as well as occasionally tinkering with gadgets and other tech. Now she doesn't go around stealing people's identities or drain bank accounts or anything like that. She's mostly a White Hat hacker, though she does sometimes drift into the Gray Hat area. So I went and got her a nice top-of-the-line computer setup, basically a hacker's dream. To say that she was surprised would be an understatement. The only thing that kind of upset her is the fact that hadn't gotten me anything. I told her it was fine since I knew she didn't have much of her own money to spend in the first place, but she kept insisting that she give me something in return, so I told her that her gift to me can be her using the tech I got her to help me out whenever I run into something I can't just blast or sneak my way through, something that requires someone who's way more familiar with the tech of this galaxy. Of course, I told her again that she doesn't have to do it if she doesn't want to. Her reply was that if she's going to do any "questionable hacking", it's going to be to help take down those who really have it coming.

Besides that, I've also been learning how to read the language in this place, which has been surprisingly easy for me. At least I can now order food at any fast food joints I stop by. Oh, and I've been kicking ass in Coruscant's Underworld almost non-stop since I shot up the Despot Club. Another bonus I've recently discovered is that a pretty good percentage of the criminals I take down have bounties on their heads, so in addition to clearing out gang hideouts which almost always have money stashes in them, I've also been turning in bounties both alive or dead, whichever condition each one is worth more as. Though I only turn in bounties to the local bondsman since I'm pretty sure the cops are on the lookout for "Red Rogue" right now since they frown upon anyone who takes the law into their own hands even though they don't seem to do shit about most major crime, likely because they're being paid off to turn a blind eye. Now where was I?

*PEW* *PEW*

*BOOM*

"ARRRGHH!"

Oh, right. I'm raiding some spice dealer's home right now with some of my Christmas presents I looted off some arms dealer I popped a few weeks ago. And right now, I'm using the one that's looking more and more like my favorite: the Adostic Arms 8-Gauge shotgun. I basically fell in love with this monster as soon as I saw it. It functions as a SPAS-12 shotgun, having a small knob located on the rear of the pump that can be turned to switch between semi-auto and pump-action. It has a 20-inch heavy-walled barrel, 6+1 capacity, an accessory rail on top of the receiver with ghost ring sights attached, a pistol grip, and a folding stock. The 8-gauge ammo this thing uses, in my case the 00 Buck and slug loads, are so powerful that it'll literally blow apart anyone and practically anything I shoot, especially at close range. One of the coolest parts is that the recoil is pretty much identical to shooting a 12-gauge thanks to the weapon's advanced recoil management system. Though the one downside to using this is the fact that I can only carry so much ammo for it at a time; I had to get a new bandolier since the large 8-gauge shells are too big to fit in the loops of my 12-gauge shell bandolier, and the new one only holds 30 shells vs the 50 shells on the 12-gauge, so I've been keeping a few extra shells in my pockets as well which of course takes up space from the ammo I use for my new sidearm. Anyway, enough about my new shotgun. Back to the mess I'm making in this scumbag's apartment.

Blaster bolts impact the dirty, torn-up couch I've just dove behind to use as cover, yet none of them penetrate. These guys, members of the Pyke Syndicate, must have their blasters set to low-power to both conserve energy in their weapons' power packs and to keep the blasters themselves from overheating. And they just keep firing so that I don't get a chance to fire back without getting hit.

'Okay, time for plan B.'

Using the Force, I throw the couch right at them. One manages to jump out of the way while the other two get pinned under the couch. Standing up, I blow off the head of the Pyke that jumped out of the way, which was easy since we're within 10 feet of each other and his head is roughly the same size as a beach ball like all the other Pykes. I then put 3 more shells into the couch with the other two Pykes still pinned under it, killing them both.

'That's the henchmen dealt with. Now where's their boss?'

Right after I finish that thought, a flash of movement to my right grabs my attention and without hesitation, I swing my shotgun around and fire.

"AHHHH!" the Pyke boss' scream of pain fills the room.

My shot had shredded one leg and took off the other. He had been making a dash for the door with a dark blue duffel bag. Lifting the bag up with one hand, I give it a shake, making the many credits inside jingle.

"Aww, for me? You shouldn't have." I taunt the Pyke before using the last shell in my 8-gauge to execute him.

With the Pykes dead and the money having been "kindly" brought to me, I waste no time in leaving the blood-soaked apartment and making my way back to the speeder bike I had boosted from outside some bar about a week ago to get home before the police arrive.

 _30 minutes later, back at the loft…_

Parking my speeder bike on the balcony, I get off and enter the loft.

"Anya, I'm home." I announce myself.

"Hey Jacob. Did everything go okay?" she greets me from her desktop.

"They won't be selling anymore spice." I answer as I set the duffel bag on the coffee table before heading upstairs to the closet.

Walking to the very back of the closet, I slide open the false wall I had installed to store my gear. Already inside is a brand-new A280 blaster assault rifle which kind of looks like an M4 due to its lower receiver, a DC-17m blaster rifle; a fully automatic carbine that can be configured into both a grenade launcher and sniper rifle, costs 4,500 credits each and is only available for military purchase, and a WL-29 sniper rifle, a weapon that looks like a Lee-Enfield rifle that's had its wooden stock replaced with a black polymer one and a pistol grip and scope added. Now that I think about it, a lot of the guns around here look suspiciously like the World War-Era guns back on Earth. Also in there is my Mossberg and Glock which have just been gathering dust in here since there's no 9mm or 12-Gauge ammo available since most people here just use blasters which require only a special kind of gas that's good for hundreds or even thousands of shots and power packs that are only good for far fewer shots than the gas, but still have impressive capacity considering the sizes of each power pack/magazine. Hell, the 8-Gauge ammo I use, which isn't exactly cheap, isn't very common either.

I place my shotgun and bandolier on their rack before pulling off my mask and stuffing it inside one of my jacket's pockets. Closing my personal armory, I then remove and hang up my jacket, revealing the WESTAR-35 blaster pistol I have holstered on my right hip, which I leave on as I exit the closet and go back downstairs. Grabbing a beer from the fridge, I sit down on the couch where I also sleep (there's only one bed. It's a big one, but Anya and I are only friends, so it would be pretty awkward if we were sleeping in the same bed together), pull my boots off, and turn on the HV to watch the evening news. Anya, finishing whatever she was doing on her desktop, comes over and sits on the opposite side of the couch to watch the news with me.

"We have some breaking news tonight; just over half an hour ago, a known spice distributer of the Pyke Syndicate was found dead along with four of his associates inside his apartment on Level 1479. Police are still struggling to identify two of the bodies at the scene as both had their heads blown off with an eight-gauge slugthrower shotgun, a weapon known to be used by the Red Rogue, a red-masked vigilante that appeared one month ago after the Despot Club Shootout where fifty-one men including the club's owner were killed. Since then, Red Rogue has been eliminating numerous criminals throughout Coruscant, which has actually led to a decrease in crime on some levels. Some such as Lieutenant Tan Divo of the Coruscant Security Force, however, disagree with Red Rogue's actions." The anchorman reports before the scene changes to a middle-aged man in a fancier-looking police uniform who I'm guessing is Lieutenant Divo.

"Red Rogue is nothing more than some whackjob in a mask taking the law into his own hands for money and fame. Mark my words, he will be caught and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. We're done here." Divo makes his statement before waving off the camera.

"Whackjob!? I'm a high-functioning sociopath you fucking dick!" I shout at the HV as it continues its story about my exploits.

"Can you believe these people, Anya? Some people are just ungrateful." I saying look over to my friend.

"Well you do leave a big mess every time you take someone down. As well as leaving with some of the evidence." Anya says eyeing the duffel bag on the table.

"You heard the anchorman, crime is going down on some levels because of what I'm doing. And what the hell has Lieutenant Dan been doing? Probably sitting on his ass doing more paperwork instead of getting his hands dirty. And then there's this shit." I say before gulping down some beer as an update of the war appears.

The Headline reads "Hundreds of innocents massacred by Separatists".

"God, how much I want rip those fuckers a new one. Sure, we now have more than enough credits to buy a ship, but where the hell do I go to hurt the Separatists? I'm not equipped to fight in a full-blown war, and the Republic might arrest me if they catch me in the battlefield. No, what I need is to know where to be before the Republic gets there. But how?" I ask myself with Anya staring at me before an idea pops into her head.

"We could tap the Republic Intelligence Bureau." She suggests

'Wait, what?'

"….Go on." I look right at her, giving her my full attention.

 _The Republic Intelligence Bureau building_

 _The next day…_

 **3rd Person POV**

It was just another day at the office for the workers of the RIB. They've been working overtime since the start of the war, gathering information on the Separatists and relaying it to the Republic military. They're so fixated on their work that they barely pay any attention to the new IT guy who has just entered the building. Of course, this is Jacob in disguise, wearing a red long-sleeve shirt, brown vest with several pockets on the front holding the tools he needs for this mission, dark grey cargo pants, and his boots. He has none of his weapons on him since it would be a pretty big red flag to anyone who caught him with one and besides, he's here to hack the RIB, not shoot it up like he does to most other places.

Anya's plan is to have him come in here disguised as an IT worker, someone who would have business working on computers, and discreetly upload some spyware Anya had made last night via a thumb drive directly into the RIB's servers. Doing this will allow them to monitor any info that comes in and out of the Bureau, which will give them the advantage of being able to strike the Separatists before the Republic arrives.

Jacob approaches the receptionist's desk to find out where the servers are located. The receptionist herself is a human woman in her mid-to-late 30's.

"Hello, I'm the new IT guy. They called and told me that there was a problem with the servers?" Jacob greets and states his "business" here.

The receptionist, taking her eyes off of her desktop monitor, looks Jacob up and down.

"Do you have any identification sir?" she asks.

Jacob reaches into one of the pockets on his vest and pulls out a top-notch forged holo-ID that Anya had whipped up for him just for this occasion. The name on the ID reads "Cole Rayson". The receptionist seems satisfied, having been fooled by the fake ID.

"The servers are on the 16th floor, just take one of the elevators on your left to get there. Have a wonderful day Mr. Rayson." She says, giving him the directions with a smile.

"Thank you miss." he says to her before walking over to the elevators and step into one.

Pushing the button for the 16th floor. Jacob stands there as the doors close and the elevator begins to ascend.

"I'm in." he says to Anya through the hidden earpiece I'm wearing.

"Alright, once you reach the servers, just plug the thumb drive into one to upload the spyware. It shouldn't take no more than a minute." Anya instructs him.

"Okay, just get to the servers and plug the thing in. No problem." Jacob recaps with a little anxiety in his voice.

"Everything alright?" she asks, having detected his anxiety.

"This is the first time I've ever went undercover into a place like this, and this place is a goddamn intelligence agency. What do I say if someone sees me at the servers?" Jacob ask Anya for advice. He wasn't used to doing stuff like this without a weapon to defend himself with, though he does have the Force and his hand-to-hand skills.

"They might just assume you're just a new worker doing your job. If they ask questions, just repeat what I say, alright Jacob?" she reassures him.

"Alright, alright. I'm at the sixteenth floor now. Let's do this." Jacob says before stepping out of the elevator, which leads right into the server room.

The floor was massive; imagine an entire large warehouse floor lined with rows of computer servers so tall that they're only a few feet short of touching the 50-foot high ceiling. There were a few other workers walking around here and there, some working and others going on their lunchbreak. Jacob finds and aisle that has no one in it and finds a server to upload the spyware. The process begins as soon as he plugs in the thumb drive, with a monitor right in front of him showing the upload's progress.

 _10%..._

So far so good, everything's quiet.

 _20%..._

A couple of workers pass by Jacob's aisle, but don't even look in his directly.

 _35%..._

More workers pass by Jacob's aisle, some of whom glance at him as they go about their business.

 _50%..._

A worker walks through the aisle with his eyes glued to a data pad, not even looking up from it as he passes by Jacob.

 _80%..._

Two workers stop on one end of the aisle and begin talking _._

 _90%..._

As they speak, one of them notices Jacob standing at one of the servers.

 _95%..._

 _He points Jacob out to his friend._

 _100%. Upload complete._

Yanking out the thumb drive, Jacob begins walking for the elevator.

"Hey you. Wait up a minute." Someone calls to Jacob from behind, making him freeze and turn around with the best calm-looking expression he can pull. Luckily for him, Anya had heard it too and already knew what was going on.

A male Pantoran and a female Mirialan walk up to him, having seen him just yanking out something from the server.

"Are you new here?" the Mirialan asks.

"First day here." Jacob replies truthfully. This was technically the first time he's been here.

"What were you doing with that thumb drive just now? What was on it?" the Pantoran questions, already suspicious of whatever Jacob is up to.

This is when Anya starts feeding Jacob answers to give them.

"Just a Virus Scan." Jacob repeats Anya's words to them.

"A Virus Scan? Why do they have you doing one of those?" the Mirialan asks, clearly alarmed by his answer.

Still following Anya's instructions, Jacob looks behind him to make sure no one is listening before answering in a voice so quiet only the two in front of him could hear.

"You didn't hear this from me, but someone here downloaded a TOOOOOOON of porn and ended up getting the whole system infected with a bunch of viruses. The boys upstairs just don't want anyone else hearing about it."

The totally made-up explanation makes both of their eyes go wide with the Mirialan placing a hand over her mouth in disbelief.

"Well, that's my work done for the day. It was nice meeting you two." Jacob says as he walks away to the elevator.

On the ride back down to the ground floor, Jacob bursts out laughing at the bullshit story he just gave those two workers, and so was Anya.

 _The loft, 20 minutes later…_

 **Jacob's POV**

I walk in and find Anya waiting for me on the couch. We both pause before smiling at each other.

"A ton of porn. HA! Oh god that was a good one, Anya!" I praise her before once again bursting out laughing along with Anya.

We laugh for a good two minutes before settling down.

"Anyway Anya, your plan was great. Now we can find the Separatists and kick their asses without having to deal with the Republic. The only thing left to do now is to buy a ship." I muse as I walk upstairs to change back into my normal outfit.

After 5 minutes, I come back down with the duffel bag of credits I took from the Pykes.

"Care to accompany me to the dealership?" I ask Anya.

"Certainly. After all, someone needs to make sure you don't waste those credits on a junker." She says as she gets up from the couch.

Together, we walk out to the speeder bike on the Balcony. I get on the front seat while Anya gets on behind me, wrapping both of her arms around my waist to remain securely on the bike. Starting the bike up, I fly off and take the both of us towards the nearest starship dealership.

 **Shorter than the first chapter, I know. But I guarantee that the next chapter will be longer. Merry Christmas everyone! And a happy New Year's!**


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3: Blue Shadow Virus/Mystery of a Thousand Moons_

 **Naboo**

 **January 28, 2019**

 **Jacob's POV**

Finally! It's been four days since we bugged the RIB, and now I finally get to blow away those cheap-ass hunks of garbage the Separatists call battle droids. Word is that some of the battle droids had been spotted in the Grassy Wasteland region of the planet Naboo, so that's where Anya and I are going to start.

Catching sight of the Grassy Wasteland's plains, Anya lands our brand-new ship, a YT-1930 Transport that came loaded with extras. We had to haggle with one of the most parasitic creatures in the entire universe, known as a ship salesman, to get the price down from its 135,000 credit sticker. Like with the realtor, I used a mind trick to get the price down to 50,000. And just like before, I was going to go even lower, but Anya decided to put her foot down… on my toes. So the reason she's flying the ship is because I have no fucking clue how to pilot a goddamn space ship. I had told her how I had ended up on Coruscant in the first place and I was kind of hoping she would know where Earth is, but of course she had never heard of the place, saying that I'm apparently from a world that's isolated from the rest of the galaxy and possibly located somewhere in the "Unknown Regions". Well, no shit we're isolated; otherwise, we'd have all the flying cars, blasters, and all the other sci-fi stuff everyone else seems to have. Anyway, Anya said she'd teach me how the fly since some of these space trips can take hours or even days meaning that she'd have to sleep at some point. And maaaan the hyperspace tunnel-thing was trippy. I kind of wish that Anya would've let me smoke some of my dwindling supply of weed while watching that. But since we're in a pressurized space vessel, she instantly shut me down, saying that the effects of the pot would screw with her hand-eye coordination. I once drove a Bugatti at top speed down an interstate after smoking some chronic without getting a scratch, so I don't know what she's talking about.

"Alright, we're here." Anya says as she sets the ship down in the middle of nowhere where no one will find this ship anytime soon.

"I'll stay here and monitor the Republic's chatter and keep the ship ready in case we need to make a fast exit. You got everything you need?"

"Yeah, I just have to get my loadout from the weapons lockers and I'm good to go." I reply while standing up from the co-pilot seat.

After we got the ship, I moved most of my weapons and other gear into the ship as well as my speeder bike so that in case there's a change in tactics, I can run back to the ship and get the right weapons for the job and so that Anya will have access to weapons in case the ship does get found while I'm away. Opening the locker, I grab my A280, a bunch of extra power packs for both it and the WESTAR-35, four of those thermal detonator grenades I scored from some black market dealer yesterday, and a hardened durasteel vest I pried off of the same guy I got the grenades from. Slinging my backpack on and my rifle over my shoulder before pulling my mask on, I walk over into the cargo bay and push my bike down the ramp of the ship.

 _About 15 minutes later…_

As I alongside a stream, I see an odd sight up ahead. By the stream were a bunch of dead big blue animals. Getting off the bike, I walk over to one to take a closer look. The poor thing hadn't been dead for very long, maybe a few hours at most. Maybe I should call Anya, she might know something.

"Anya, come in." I speak aloud while activating my earpiece.

"What is it Jacob?" she responds.

"I just came across a weird scene, a bunch of dead blue animals by the stream. I have no idea what they are." I explain.

"Use your phone to give me a video feed so I can see." She instructs me.

So when I first pulled out my iPhone X in front of her to use a Force ability of mine to recharge it, she instantly became interested in it. Even offered to "upgrade" it for me if I let her see it. And boy, did she upgrade my phone. It can now function like any other comlink along with a few new features being added to it. For now, let's just say that phone companies back on Earth would make billions off of what Anya made my phone into.

I FaceTime Anya and show her the scene in front of me. She's silent on her end for a moment before she speaks to me in a tense voice.

"Jacob, step away from those shaaks NOW. They've been killed by the Blue Shadow Virus."

"Cool name, I can see why it's called that. This shit isn't in the air, is it?" I ask while backing away from the dead shaaks.

"No, it's only waterborne. They must have got it by drinking from that stream. But here's the thing: the Blue Shadow Virus was wiped out generations ago after devastating the whole galaxy with a ninety-six percent mortality rate which no life-form was immune from. Anyone who was infected usually died within forty-eight hours." She explains.

"Hmm, a disease that contaminates water, has a very-high mortality rate, can kill anyone, and does so within two days. Sounds like a bio-weapon some asshole scientist with too much free time made. And judging by the kind of shit the Separatists are pulling these days, it doesn't surprise me that a scientist of theirs has brought it back. This thing with the stream could be them testing it out to see if their version of the virus works, though it'd be pretty stupid of them to do it out in the open where an extinct, very lethal disease resurfacing would draw a lot of attention and no doubt put the whole planet on quarantine." I muse.

I then look to stream, wondering where it leads since the virus is coming from the water.

"Anya, where does this stream lead upstream?" I ask.

"One sec… the Eastern Swamps. That's probably where the lab making the virus is located." Anya answers.

"Then that's where I'm going." I reply before getting back on the speeder bike.

 _20 minutes later…_

It's night now and I have just got done hiding my bike and am now carefully moving through the swamp with my rifle ready, keeping my eyes peeled for any movement. 50 yards away, I see a small yellow ship parked at the edge of a small clearing.

'The lab must not be far away. But where is it?'

While creeping towards the ship, I stay along the tree line to remain hidden. With a closer look, I can tell that it's from Theed judging by the markings on it. Maybe some other people from the Naboo government investigating the same thing I'm after? Where are they now? I look over at the clearing and notice something strange in the mud from where I'm standing. Underneath the mud is something metal with a thick seam line going through it. I then notice how the clearing is shaped like a perfect circle. To confirm my growing theory, I pick up a nearby rock and throw it at the metal.

*CLANG*

Suddenly, something I immediately identify as a camera pops out of the ground and begins rotating, probably looking for whatever made that noise. I jump behind a tree when it spins my way to avoid detection. When's it's done looking around, it retracts back into the ground. Guess I've just found the lab.

"Anya, I've found the lab. It's underground and there's surveillance. I don't think I can get in quietly here." I speak into the earpiece.

"Maybe it has a holonet connection I can hack into. Try scanning for one with your phone." She says

Bringing out my phone, I pull up the app that Anya had both programmed and installed that allows me to act as a proxy for her to hack into anything that can be hacked. There is indeed a holonet connection, albeit a weak one. But it's enough for Anya to get some info on the place, include the holo-schematics of the lab, which I can now project out of the screen of my phone thanks to Anya's modifications.

'Damn, this place is huge.'

However, while studying the three separate entry points into the lab, Anya's voice fills my ears again.

"Kriffing hell, Jacob. This scientist, Doctor Nuvo Vindi, has made an airborne version of the virus and plans to set off bombs loaded with it in key Republic systems! Jacob, if those bombs make it out of that lab, millions, maybe even billions will die!" Anya states with worry in her voice. I don't blame her; this guy is basically trying to bring about the apocalypse via a biological weapon.

"Fuck me! I guess this Doctor Vindi isn't leaving with the virus then. I'm making my way to another entry point, preferably one that doesn't have cameras. If I can't get in quietly, I'll just have to do this the loud way and blow my way in." I say while checking to make sure I did pack my grenades as well as something else that should keep me safe from the airborne virus at least for a while in case a canister filled with the stuff gets ruptured or something.

"Be careful Jacob and whatever you do, don't breathe the virus in." Anya warns me.

"Trust me Anya, I came prepared. Making my way to the nearest of the three entry points now." I assure her.

I start running for the closest entry point which is roughly 100 yards north of my position. However, while making my way there, I start sensing this weird feeling. Briefly stopping, I turn back and look in the direction of the yellow ship. I sense something… or someone there. Hmmm… I'll worry about who or whatever that is later. Right now, I've got more pressing matters to attend to. After a little more running, I reach the entry point; another clearing with mud in the center. But just before I walk out to look for a hatch to open, 3 of those cameras rise out of the ground. Fuck, I guess it's the loud way then. Reaching into my bag, I pull out a grenade before pushing the red button and tossing it right in the middle of the periscopes.

'Fire in the hole.'

 **3** **rd** **Person POV**

Meanwhile, back at the south bunker of Vindi's lab where Padme and Jar Jar's ship is parked, Ahsoka Tano and Peppi Bow crouch behind a tree as Ahsoka reports her findings to both her master, Anakin Skywalker, and Obi-Wan Kenobi. However, as Kenobi is about to tell her to set off a bomb on the hatch she's looking at…

*BOOM*

An explosion about 100 yards north of her and Peppi's position rocks the swamp.

"What was that!?" Anakin asks, both him and Obi-Wan being taken by surprise by the sudden blast they've just heard over the holocomm.

"An explosion, sounds like it came from where another of the entry points are!" Ahsoka shouts.

"Looks like we're not the only ones after Vindi. Breach the south hatch, we'll be right behind you." Obi-Wan says to Ahsoka before ending the call.

Pulling out a thermal detonator of her own, Ahsoka stands from cover and prepares to use it to blast open the hatch.

"What kind of maniac would assault a place like this on their own?" she wonders to herself out loud before using the Force to levitate the grenade directly above the hatch.

 **Jacob's POV**

Jumping down the breached hatch, I immediately hear a German-accented voice over the intercom.

"We have a breach! All droids to Hatch number 3!"

'Dr. Vindi, I presume? Go figure that the guy who's just made a bio weapon that kills in mass sounds German.'

Time to find Dr. Nazi and kick his ass. As soon as I turn around a corner in the tube-shaped light-lined hallway, I'm met with a bunch of B1 and a few B2 battledroids. Flipping the fire selector to "semi", I snap up my rifle and unload on the droids, taking out 8 B1s before taking cover behind one of the side doorways.

"Jacob! Jacob, come in!" Anya shouts over my earpiece.

"I'm here, what's wrong?" I ask loudly while leaning out of cover and shooting 3 more B1s and 2 B2s.

"The Republic's on their way there! Their gunships are already closing in on the lab! You need to get out of there NOW!" she warns me.

Just then, another explosion rocks the lab.

'Shit, they're already here. I thought I had more time.'

"Anya, I still need to take out Vindi! That fucker can't leave here with the virus." I tell her as I mow down the rest of the droids in the hall.

"Then hurry up and then get the Kriff out of there! I heard that three Jedi taking part in the raid!"

Three Jedi? Well that complicates things; one of my few advantages over most people is my ability to use the Force, but the Jedi use the Force as well and are armed with some kind of energy swords called lightsabers that can apparently cut through almost anything as well as deflect blaster bolts. From what I've heard, the Jedi are great fighters. If I don't find Vindi soon, I'm going to have to bail on this mission.

Turning into another hall, I hear something metal rolling towards me. Suddenly, two of those Destroyer droid things come rolling around a corner and stop on the opposite end of the hall from me before unfolding themselves. As soon as a blue ball of energy forms around each of them, they open fire. One shot clips my vest as I scramble into cover. I lean out and take a quick shot at one, only for the bolt to bounce off the blue energy field.

'Fuck me, they got energy shields here. Let's see how those shields handle explosives.'

Briefly removing my backpack, I pull out another of the four grenades I brought. Pushing the button, I toss it out into the hall towards the droidekas.

*BOOM*

The blasterfire from the droids immediately stops. Popping my head out, I see that both have been reduced to scrap metal. Though blasterfire still continues to echo through the lab, more than likely between the Clones and droids. And now I sense not only 1, but now 3 strange presences here in the lab with me. As a matter of fact…

I bolt into one of the side rooms, a spare room apparently, and close the door just as the presence being followed by a dozen clone troopers run through the hall.

"Master, still no sign of the senator or the doctor, but we've just found some more droids that've been taken out by our mystery guest." A young female voice shouts, from what I can tell, into her comlink.

"Just focus on finding Vindi, Snips! We'll search the place for whoever else is here later!" I hear an older male voice shout back over the girl's comlink before they move on.

'Ha, Snips. That's a funny nickname for sure, though at this point, I wouldn't be surprised if that's her real name since most people in this galaxy seem to have weird names.'

Once I'm sure they're gone, I exit the side room and continue my search for Vindi. I don't have much more time to find him, so I begin to pick up the pace a little. After about a minute of sprinting down hallways without running into anyone, I finally find who I'm looking for. Running out into a different hallway and looking left, I see the doctor running while carrying a triangle-shaped metal case and being escorted by a squad of droids.

"VINDI!" I call out his name while lining up a shot on his head.

This, however, proved to be a mistake.

Having underestimated how fast a droid can turn around and shoot, a B2 fires three times, two hitting my vest, and one grazing my left forearm.

"ARRGH! FUCK!" I yell out in pain, my shot being thrown off course 3 inches to the right of the surprised Faust doctor's domed head. I immediately duck back into the hall I just came through and dash into another side room, this one being a storage room of some kind with just some random junk in it.

"Forget him! We need to leave NOW!" I hear the Vindi shout as I lock the door.

Sitting down on a nearby crate, I check my vest to make sure none of the shots went through before pushing up my left sleeve to see what kind of damage my arm just took. This, unfortunately, isn't the first time I've been shot. Only those other times were done with bullets. This is actually the first time I've taken a hit (not counting the ones that were stopped by my vest) since I got to this galaxy, and man does it fucking burn. The blaster bolt had left a burn mark; blackened around the edges and a cooked-pink center. I take a quick look around the room I'm in for a first-aid kit, something that might have some of that bacta stuff in it. I heard that stuff can basically heal any injury, and my health bar could use a little refilling. But of course, I soon find that there's none in here. Guess I'm going to have to do this this the hard way. Like all the other times I've been shot, stabbed, took shrapnel, or all three on one occasion. One ability I discovered a couple of years ago is Force Healing, and every time I use it, it's like nothing happened at all. But there's a catch; each time I use it, it takes a toll. Small injuries like the one I have now only leave me with a mild headache, but multiple small injuries or more major ones always drains my ability to use the Force for at least a few minutes and feels like a full-blown hangover.

Hovering my hand over my wound, I concentrate. Within seconds, my arm is healed. Though while doing so, I had sensed 2 of the 3 presences running through the hall I saw Vindi in. Shit, I don't think I'm going to be able to get another shot at him now…

"Jacob, where are you?" Anya suddenly asks through the earpiece.

"Some droid got lucky and grazed me before I could put one between Vindi's eyes, so I ran into a storage room to heal up. Please don't tell me that Vindi got away with some of the virus." I say grimly. That last part would NOT be good, especially since I fucked up my one chance to kill him. God, why did I have to yell his name instead of just shooting him in the back of the head?

"No, I just heard that the Jedi caught him before he could escape in his shuttle. Wait a minute, did you just say that you got shot!? Oh Force, are you alright!?" She asks, obviously surprised and worried about me.

"Yeah, I'm fine now. Apart from the new hole in my sleeve, you wouldn't be able to tell if there was a gunshot wound. So, they got Vindi? Well, this didn't go the way I thought it would. Seriously, I thought we had more time before the Republic got here. At least there won't be a galaxy-wide plague." I say, annoyed that the Republic had actually arrived just barely after I got started.

"What matters now is that you get out of there before the Republic finds you." Anya says.

"That might be a little difficult at the moment," I reply.

Even now, I can sense the clone soldiers patrolling the lab, some constantly passing by the room I'm hiding in.

"The Republic's patrolling the lab and I think I can sense that one of the Jedi are still down here in the lower levels with me. I'm going to have to wait for a gap in the patrols before I make a run for it."

"Well do it soon! It's only a matter of time before that Jedi senses you. I'm surprised they haven't already." Anya comments.

'…shit. That's right, they can sense other Force users as well. But what Anya just said does bring up a good question; why haven't either of the three Jedi sensed MY presence yet?'

My thoughts are soon interrupted by the sound of a high-pitched alarm going off.

"Anya, there's an alarm going off. What's happening?" I ask.

"I don't know, but I suggest you make a run for it right now before we find out." She answers.

Heeding her warning, I unlock the door and poke my head out. The hall's empty, so I start to make a beeline for the surface.

*BOOM*

Until yet another explosion rocks the lab, nearly knocking me off my feet. The high-pitched alarm is soon replaced by a more sinister-sounding one.

"Anya, the alarm just changed. What the fuck is going on?" I ask again, starting to get a little nervous.

"KRIFF! THERE'S A VIRUS LEAK! THE ENTIRE LAB IS GOING INTO LOCKDOWN! GET OUT OF THERE!" Anya screams.

Now I'm starting to freak out. There's no way I'm going to outrun the gas or even make it out of the lower levels before I'm locked in. Focus Jacob! FOCUS! You brought one thing that just might save you from this fucking virus! I just need to get it out of my pack and put it on right fucking now!

Throwing my backpack on the floor, I quickly open it and pull out the one thing that will protect me from the virus; an FM53 gas mask already fitted with a filter. Yanking off my red mask, I can already see a blue smoke-like gas coming right towards me. I get the gas mask on just before Blue Shadow Virus reaches me.

"Oh, oh god, that was so fucking close." I mutter between deep breaths, my voice being slightly muffled by the mask.

"Jacob? Jacob!?" Anya calls my name.

"I'm still here; I got my gas mask on just in time. I told you it would come in handy someday besides making me look cool." I joke to try to ease my friend's worries.

"Yeah, really funny Jacob. The whole lab is under lockdown; more specifically, the lower levels have been sealed off from the upper levels to keep the virus from leaking out, so you're stuck down there along with any clones and remaining droids who were still hanging around when the virus was released. I hope the clones at least made it to the safe room before they got infected." Anya explains the current situation to me.

"Got any ideas on how I can get out of here without releasing the virus out in the rest of the planet?" I ask, realizing that I can't just go to the nearest hatch and blast my way out.

"Not right now, but I'm working on it. How long will the filters for your mask last for?" she asks.

"These forty-millimeters usually last for around twenty-four hours each, and I got three extras in my bag, so we got three, four days tops to figure something out." I tell her, leaving out the part about how in heavily contaminated areas, gas mask filters don't last for 24 hours. And the hall was filled with blue smoke right now, as I assume the rest of the lab's lower levels are.

"Okay, I'll get right back to when I have something. For now, just try to stay alive and be careful." Anya says to me.

"Alright, I guess I'll find some place down here to hole up in then." I reply as I place my red mask in my backpack and raise the hood of my jacket to cover the rest of my head before moving on.

The halls, one brightly lit, were now dark with only dull lights illuminating them. It was quiet now too, the blasterfire having long ceased. I'm starting to get some creepy vibes from this; it kind of reminds me of that one level in Halo where you first encounter the Flood. Seriously, all I can hear are my own footsteps until I walk by what looks like a blast door and suddenly sense a familiar presence.

"Hello? Is someone out there?" I hear a muffled female voice coming from behind the blast door. I think it might be that one Jedi girl whose nickname is "Snips".

I have no idea whether I should talk to her or just keep walking. Well, I guess I should at least see if she's alright…

"Uh yeah. Is everything alright in there?" I ask

"Wait, you don't sound like a clone or the senator. Who are you? Are you the one who tried storming this lab by yourself?" she asks.

"…No?" I hesitate before giving a weak answer.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter right now. Listen, you need to let us out so we can stop the remaining droids from leaving the lab." Snips tells me.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Are you crazy? There's a goddamn killer virus outside of that safe room you're in. And what do you mean 'us'? You got other people in there with you? Furthermore, did you say something about a senator?" I question her, really wondering about that last part. What the hell was a politician of all people doing in a place like this?

"We're already infected; some of the virus got in here with me and the clones just before these doors closed, so now we're just trapped in here. Senator Amidala and Representative Binks are supposed to be on their way here to let us out." She explains their predicament to me.

Uh oh, if those droids pop open any of those hatches, Naboo is screwed. As for the Senator and Representative, I have seen the former on the news; she's a prominent senator of Naboo and seems to be one of the very-rare good politicians.

"Oh, well I'm glad you told me about the droids then. Now I can just go ahead and take them down while you wait in there for Miss Amidala to let you out." I reply while starting to walk away.

"What!? You're just going to leave us locked in here!?" Snips shouts in outrage.

"Uh, yeah because I am the guy who tried to take this place on before you showed up and I know that if I let you out, you and your men will try to put me in handcuffs and probably throw me in that safe room." I answer.

"Besides, since you're all infected, you're probably not in the best condition to fight. I got a gas mask on, so I'm not infected yet. You saw my handy work earlier, so I hope you can at least figure out that I'll handle this, so bye!" I say before running down the hall to clear the hatches.

"HEY! GET BACK HERE YOU JERK!" I hear Snips yell before I turn into a different hall.

 _A few minutes later…_

At the first hatch I reach, there's 12 B1s with one climbing up the ladder. I immediately open fire and take out four of them before my rifle clicks empty. Having no time to reload, I switch to my WESTAR-35 as the droids return fire, forcing me into cover. Concentrating, time slows for me as I pick of the 7 remaining droids on the floor. Running up to the ladder, I am my pistol at the droid on it, who looks down at me.

"Ha! Too late!"

He fires a shot from his blaster right at the hatch, only for it to ricochet off the walls and hit him, making the droid fall from the ladder in a heap.

"Heh, stupid droid." I chuckle while holstering my WESTAR and loading a fresh power pack into my A280.

That's when I sense certain Force presence quickly approaching the hall behind me.

'Damn, I thought she'd stay locked in that room for a little longer. Oh well, time to run n' gun.'

I immediately take off running down a hall towards the next hall as I glance over my shoulder and catch a glimpse of a few clones, two people in yellow hazmat suits who I assume are Senator Amidala and Representative Binks, and the Jedi herself wielding a green lightsaber. I can't really tell what she looks like, the only thing I can see is that she has orange skin. A Togruta like Anya maybe.

"Hey you! Stop!" I hear her shout after me.

"Can't catch me!" I shout back.

They were definitely chasing me now, and I can sense the Jedi slowly gaining on me despite being slowly weakened by the virus. She's fast, I'll give her that. I turn around a corner and continue sprinting until two more of those destroyer droids appear from around a corner ahead of me and are now barreling right towards me. Thinking fast, I use the Force to enhance my agility, allowing me to jump over the destroyers and land with a roll before I continue running. Luckily for me, the destroyers seem more interested in the Jedi than me, who looks a little surprised by what I just pulled.

She also looks familiar somehow…

While I keep running down an empty hall, I notice that it's getting a little hard to breathe; time to swap out the filter. I can still hear blasterfire coming from the hall I left both the destroyers and the Jedi in, so I have a little time to make a quick stop. I dig in my backpack and pull out a fresh 40mm filter. Taking a deep breath and holding it, I unscrew the used-up filter from my mask, toss it on the floor, and start screwing on the new one. Once the filter is secure, I exhale and start breathing again.

'Ah. Fresh filter, easier to breath.'

When I go around the next corner, the whole hall is crawling with B1s, all of whom immediately turn my way. I instantly snap my rifle up and just dump the whole power pack down range. It was over in 5 seconds and not a single droid in the hall is left standing. Once again loading a fresh power pack into my rifle, I continue down the hall towards the second and final hatch leading to the upper level. Up ahead, I hear what sounds like a cutting torch being used; leaning around a corner, I see one B1 talking to another who apparently using said cutting torch to open the hatch.

"How are you doing up there?" the one on the floor asks in its funny-sounding voice.

"I'm almost through." The one on the ladder answers.

Before I can line up a shot on either one of them, Snips and the rest of her group appear in the hall opposite of me.

"There they are." Snips says as she runs up to the droids and cuts them both down with her lightsaber.

'Damn, those lightsaber things can do some serious damage. Maybe I should look into getting myself one- wait a minute… her face…'

Now that she's leaning on the ladder, likely because the virus is now taking a toll on her strength, I can now see her more clearly. She was indeed a Togruta, and young one at that. In fact, she looks slightly younger than Anya given how her lekku and montrals are shorter than my friend's. She's wearing a maroon tube top and short skirt, maroon leather bracers on both her forearms, light grey leggings, a purple loincloth with some kind of patterning on it, maroon leather boots, and some sort of head dress made from teeth that I've noticed Anya wearing as well. But what stood out to me most of all was her face. She has white markings very similar to Anya's, just slightly different. And her eyes were exactly the same as Anya's. It's at this moment now I realize that I haven't asked Anya if she had any family.

I also realize that Snips isn't looking very good at all. Black veins had appeared around the edges of her face and her eyes were dark.

"Ahsoka!" someone I recognize as Senator Amidala calls out. Wait, why is she wearing her hazmat suit?

"I'm alright." Ahsoka replies, turning her head to the Senator.

I don't know how, but they haven't spotted me yet, so I slowly move back behind the corner to eavesdrop on the rest of their conversation.

"That should be the last of them, but what about that one guy who's been running around blasting droids?" I hear an Australian-accented voice ask, likely one of the clones.

"He… doesn't really seem to be a threat to us. Sure, he's a jerk who left us locked in a room, but he didn't once fire a shot at us while we were chasing him." Ahsoka says about me.

"Threat or not, he did help us clear out the remaining droids before any could break out of here. He also seems to know that opening any of the hatches himself will release the virus into the rest of Naboo. I just hope that he isn't planning anything else reckless." Amidala points out.

"I'm sure he'll turn up sooner or later. That mask of his can only keep him safe from the virus for so long." A clone, the one with all the extra stuff on his armor that makes him stand out from the others, says to the 2 women.

"We should send a message to my master, let them know that the lab is secure. Come on." Ahsoka says before they go back the way they came.

Once they're gone, I walk over to the 2 sliced up droids on the floor.

"I guess that's all the droids then." I say to myself.

Standing there and looking around for another silent minute, I decide to go find a room to chill out in until Anya calls me with an escape plan.

 _1 day and 16 hours later…_

Okay, I'm going to need to get out of here soon. I'm on my second-to-last filter and am now tired, hungry, and thirsty. After the last of the droids were taken out, I locked myself in Vindi's private quarters so I can maybe get a little sleep; wouldn't exactly be the first time I slept in someone else's bed while they're away from home. But then I remembered that there is someone here who can literally cut the door open while I'm asleep, so I ended up staying awake the whole day and night while posted up behind Vindi's bed with my rifle aimed at the door; right now, it's 10:33 at night. Plus, a particularly unnerving thought had crossed my mind, one that I'm pretty sure would have given me a nightmare if I went to sleep. As a matter of fact, I'm going to give her a holocall right now.

Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I go to "contacts" which only have three numbers: the Loft's, the ship's, and Anya's. After tapping her number, I then select the new "holo" option and set the phone down on the bed while I wait for her to answer. She soon appears in the room as a small blue-tinted hologram.

"Hey Jacob, is everything al- geez! What's with your eyes? You're not infected, are you?" she asks. She's looking a little sleep-deprived herself.

"Nah, I've just been awake for almost two days now. So anyway, quick question. The Republic's people should have roughly five hours left before they die, but do you think that Vindi fucked up with this version of the virus? What if they don't just die, but come back as zombies and try to rip my insides out?" I ask my question.

"No Jacob. Just… no. That kind of stuff only happens in holovids. There's absolutely no way for zombies of any kind to exist. Something like that would just defy nature." Anya answers, thinking that my concern is ridiculous.

"For your information, zombies totally do exist; Drug Zombies. They're all over the place where I'm from. Whether they're undead or not I can't always tell. And the kind of stuff that happens in the movies basically sums up about half of my life." I point out.

"Anyway, you find a way for me to escape yet?"

"I actually do have a lead on something, but I need to make sure it's what I think it is." She answers. It's some good news at least.

"Awesome. Get back to me soon. My mask won't last too much longer."

"I will, and Jacob? Do you think you should go check on the Republic's people to see if they're still alive?" She asks.

"But what if it's like I said and they're zombies now? I ask back.

"Jacob!" Anya says my name forcefully with a glare of annoyance.

"Ugh, fine. If I get eaten alive, I'm coming back to haunt you for the rest of your life." I finally cave in to her request before ending the call.

Sliding the phone back into my pocket, I unlock the door and poke my head out to see if the hall's clear. With no soul in sight, I begin walking through the halls quietly, listening for any signs of life. I eventually start to hear some coughing just further down the hall. Creeping up to the door where the coughing is coming from, I slightly lean my head to the left to see inside the red-lit room. Only four people, three of whom are just barely standing, are moving around the room making sure everyone else who's on sitting on the floor are still alive and comfortable: Representative Jar Jar Binks who isn't infected thanks to his still-intact hazmat suit, Senator Padme Amidala, who's looking pretty bad right now, that one clone wearing the armor with the blue paint, who's also looking pretty bad, and the Jedi Ahsoka, who's looking worse than the other two. The virus must be hitting her especially hard since she's only, what, like 14?

"What I waste." The senator comments while looking at an apparently-dead clone trooper.

"With all due respect senator, it's what these men were born to do." The blue clone says before pulling a tarp over the body.

"I hope that their sacrifice brings us closer to peace." Amidala replies.

Another fit of coughing brings my attention over to one of the water tanks in the room. Ahsoka, who had apparently decided to sit down for a second, struggles to stand back up.

"It will, Padme. *cough* you just, got to believe…" Ahsoka weakly says before collapsing, thankfully into the blue clone's arms.

"Ahsoka!" Padme shouts.

I don't know why, but for some reason I really don't want that Jedi to die. But how?... Wait, I can try healing her, but will that ability work on others?

'Oh to hell with it! I can feel her goddamn life draining away here!'

Entering the room and quickly making my way to the fallen Togruta, everyone still alive and awake turn to see where the sound of my boots pounding the metal floor is coming from. Having no time to explain, I use the Force to push both Amidala and Binks aside while I quickly approach both Ahsoka and Blue, the latter drawing one of his pistols on me.

"Hold it right-" I cut him off by using the Force to yank the sidearm from his hand and toss it over my shoulder, which leaves him very surprised.

"No time to explain. She needs a jump now." I quickly say before placing my hand on Ahsoka's left shoulder.

"Hey! *Cough* What the hell are you… doing?" Blue trails off as the dark veins on Ahsoka's face begin to slowly recede.

'Fuck me, this is a tough virus.'

I continue to heal her as much as I can until I simply reach my limit.

"FUCK!" I yell loudly, throwing my hand up from her shoulder to my head as the worst hangover I've ever had begins to kick in.

After a few seconds, Ahsoka's eyes flutter back open.

"Ughhh… what happened… what's he doing here?" she asks weakly as Blue sets her down, wondering what the hell has just happened after she blacked out.

"You should be alive for a few more hours. Saving you just gave me THE hangover of hangovers, but you're still here…. Now if you all will excuse me, I going to find a wall to punch." I state to the whole room before staggering towards the door, my head pounding.

No one tries to stop me, either because they're still in shock over what I just did or they're just too weak to do anything like that. Remembering something, I turn back around when I reach the door.

"Okay, so I know you, and you are." I say while pointing at the senator and the representative.

"Who are you two?" I ask Blue and Ahsoka, with the latter answering.

"*cough* he's Captain Rex, and I'm *cough* Ahsoka… Tano."

Tano.

Anya's last name.

Without another word, I leave the room and keep walking until I'm sure I've put enough distance between them and myself.

"Damn it." I say to myself as I swing my fist at the wall once, twice, and then a third time before losing my balance and falling on my back.

I just lay there, undisturbed, and wait for the hangover to wear off and for my abilities to return.

"Jacob, you there?" I hear Anya's voice ask, which makes my head hurt due to the hangover.

"Yeah, I'm still here. You got something?" I respond.

"I did some digging around in the lab's databanks and came across something in Vindi's journal logs. It seems that a few weeks ago, the lab received a large shipment of Reeksa root, the only known cure for the Blue Shadow Virus and get this; Vindi converted it into aerosol form. He called it the Purge Protocol. I guess it was meant to be used in case there was some sort of accident with the gas." Anya explains.

Slowly looking around, I begin to notice that the hall, and likely even the whole facility, is lined with vents. I grin under my mask; I should have known that a psychopath like Vindi would have some sort of contingency plan for if the gas was accidently released in the lab. If I can initiate that Purge Protocol of his, it might just be enough to end the lockdown, or at the very least make the air in here safe to breathe again. And as a bonus, the Republic's people will be saved, so at least this whole mission wouldn't have been for nothing.

"Anya, you truly are the most awesome girl I've ever met. Alright, so how do I purge this goddamn virus?" I ask while standing back up, my hangover beginning to fade.

"There should be a control console in the same room where Vindi created the virus. I'll mark it on your map.

 _5 minutes later…_

I arrive in the actual lab of the facility where Vindi had apparently converted the original waterborne version of the Blue Shadow Virus to the gas version. It doesn't take me long to find the control console Anya was talking about. Accessing it (Vindi didn't even have it set to require a password), I look around until I find the option for the Purge. My finger hovering over the holographic tab that will supposedly release the cure, I was wondering why it took Anya so long to look into it.

"Hey Anya, what took you so long with figuring this out?"

"Huh? Oh, I just wasn't sure if 'Purge' meant the cure or a fiery explosion that would have cleansed the whole lab of the virus." She answers.

"….And you're sure that pushing this button won't blow us all to hell?" I ask, a little concerned.

"Of course I'm sure! Well, ninety-percent sure…eighty…okay, at least seventy-five." Anya admits.

"Oh well, there's nothing else to do anyway, so let's see what happens." I say before pushing the tab.

A few seconds after I push it, a yellow-green gas starts hissing out of the vents. I watch as it comes into contact with the blue smoke of the virus, making it slowly disappear. After a few minutes pass, a notice pops up on the monitor of the control console saying that the Purge is now complete. So that would mean that I don't have to wear my gas mask anymore…

Hesitating for a second, I slowly grip the mask with both hands and slide it off of my face. Then I take a nice, DEEP breath.

"Ahhhhh." I exhale.

"Virus-free"

Now that the virus has been dealt with, it was time to get the fuck out of here. Placing my gas mask back inside my bag and pulling my red mask back on, I start walking for the nearest hatch. But when I do, I find that it's still sealed.

'Damn, the place is still under lockdown. I could try using one of my remaining grenades to blow it open, but that might make any guards the Republic may have posted in the upper levels come running, so how else can I… hmm… let's go see how Ahsoka is doing.'

When I arrive back in the room where I left them, no one except Binks is left standing, but I do sense that they're alright.

"Uhh, what just happened?" I hear a clone ask.

"So yeah, it turned out that Vindi had the cure to the virus loaded into the vents the whole time." I answer, letting my presence be known to everyone in the room.

"That was you? Are you saying that we're cured?" Senator Amidala asks

"Well, yeah. I just said it was the cure, didn't I? I mean, it's kind of why all the blue smoke is gone now." I say to her.

"Then on behalf of the Republic, we thank you." She says to me with a smile, which everyone else was also giving me.

While it's nice being appreciated for saving lives, I really should be getting to business now.

"Okay, full disclosure everyone: I didn't just trigger the Purge Protocol to save you all. I was also hoping that it would end the lockdown so I can leave."

That pretty much brings the moment to a grinding halt given how the smiles faded as soon as I said that.

"Only it didn't, so Miss Tano, I'm going to need to borrow your lightsaber for a minute."

"What? I'm not going to let you borrow my-" Ahsoka tries to deny my request before I simply use the Force to call the lightsaber from her belt to my hand. I really wasn't asking here.

She just stares in disbelief of what I just did before the look of shock turns into an angry glare.

"Hey!"

"Oh, calm down. I'm only using it to cut the hatch open. I'll drop it when I'm done." I say before making my way out the door knowing that everyone was too weak to stop or even pursue me except for Jar Jar, and he doesn't look like he wants to try either of those things.

"Wait!" Amidala calls out.

I stop and turn to see what she wants.

"Who are you?" she asks.

"Seriously, you haven't figured out who I am yet? I've been all over the news on Coruscant lately. I'm Red Rogue." I answer before leaving.

While I go to nearest hatch, I inspect Ahsoka's lightsaber to figure out how it works. For being just about the same size as large flashlight, the thing feels heavier than it looks. Now how do I turn it on? Is it this red button…

*SSSSKK*

Oh, yeah, it's the red button. I can feel the heat coming off of the green blade of light that's about the same length as a longsword, yet doesn't have the weight of one, or any weight for that matter. Makes me wonder how the Jedi are trained to use these things since while similar in function, the lightsaber certainly doesn't feel the same as a metal sword. Doesn't really matter though since I'm not keeping it. I know I usually keep whatever cool stuff I find on my adventures, but Ahsoka seems alright at least. And I'm not that much of a jerk like she says I am.

Climbing up the ladder, I shove the blade of the lightsaber through the hatch and start cutting a hole which doesn't take long at all since the lightsaber cuts through the durasteel as easily as a hot knife through a stick of butter. The hatch soon falls to the floor with a loud bang and keeping my word to Ahsoka, I drop her lightsaber to the floor below to be retrieved by a friend or ally of hers later on. Finally climbing to the upper level, I'm a little surprised to not see or even sense anyone around.

Keeping my guard up, I retrace my steps to where I had breached my way into the lab, though still not running into any clones which is strange. Force Jumping my way through the hole I had made in the ceiling, I see that it's the middle of the night and STILL sense no one around.

'Wait, did they seriously not set up a perimeter around the outside of the facility? Sweet! Easy getaway!'

Not questioning the incredibly lucky break I've just got, I immediately sprint back to where I hid my speeder bike, which I find hasn't been disturbed. Starting it up, I flee the area at top speed and make my way back to the ship.

"Anya, I'm out! You're plan worked! I'm on my way back now, so get the ship ready!" I shout into the earpiece.

"YES! That's awesome news! I'll get the ship started now! Is anyone chasing you?" she asks.

"That's the best part! Those dumbasses didn't even post any guards outside of the lab, so this as clean as a getaway can get!" I reply.

 _About 20 minutes later…_

I finally arrive at the ship and push my bike back into the cargo bay before rushing to the cockpit where I find Anya ready to take off.

"What are we waiting for? Let's get the hell out of here!" I exclaim while taking my seat.

We then take off and soon leave Naboo behind as the ship's hyperdrive activates, sending us into hyperspace on a course back to Coruscant.

"Well…" I say as I pull of my mask.

"That didn't go as planned. But thanks to you-"

*SMACK*

"OWWW!" I grip my now broken nose while Anya still holds up her balled fist with a glare that looks just like the one I saw on Ahsoka. And like me, she clearly hasn't gotten any sleep.

"Don't you ever try pulling anything like that again! I told you that we should've bailed as soon as the Republic arrived!" Anya yells at me as I begin healing my nose.

"You're not wrong there. Let me ask something real quick; do you, by any chance, have or had a little sister named Ahsoka?" I ask.

Anya's eyes instantly shoot wide open.

"HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HER!?" she exclaims.

"She was one of the Jedi involved in the raid and got trapped down there along with myself when the virus got released. She wasn't doing well against the virus, so it was a good thing I was there to release the cure when I did. Otherwise, her and all the others might be dead by now. Oh, and as for how I found out she was your sister, she looks like a younger version of you and uses the same last name." I explain.

Any sign of anger on Anya's face was gone, replaced by a thousand-yard stare towards the floor.

"…Anya? Are you alright?"

"…I was five when they came for her. The Jedi. Mom told me that Ahsoka was going away to become a Jedi and that we'd never see her again." Anya says to me.

"They just took her when she was three? Took her where? Are they even allowed to do that?" I ask, very surprised about how the Jedi pick up new recruits.

"If you can use the Force, the Jedi have the authority to bring you to their Temple to join their order." She explains before getting up and hugging me.

"Thank you for saving her life. At least I know she's still alive."

"Hey, you were the one who told me about the Protocol, so you had as much of a hand in saving her as I did." I reminder her.

"Now let's gets something to eat when we get back home. I'm friggin' starving." I add, making Anya laugh.

"Yeah, me too."

 **Happy New Year's everyone!**


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4: A Day out in Galactic City_

 **Jedi Temple, Coruscant**

 **February 8, 2019**

 **3** **rd** **Person POV**

Inside the Council Meeting Room is Grand Master Yoda, Master Mace Windu, Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, discussing a certain matter.

"Has there been any more sightings of the Red Rogue?" Asks Windu.

"There was one last night Master Windu, but he had already fled the scene by the time I got there." Anakin reports.

"Considering how his raid only took him just under two minutes with twenty-three bodies found at the scene this time, I'd say he's well-experienced with this line of work. He's proven himself to be difficult to track, much less capture." Obi-Wan muses.

"It's seems to have been that way since Red Rogue's first appearance in the Despot Club Shootout." Mace points out.

"You mean the club that was involved in a slave trafficking ring where he killed fifty men with just a knife and two slugthrowers of unknown make and model considering the shell casings found at the scene?" Obi-Wan asks.

"It sounds to me that he performed more of a public service that time." Anakin comments, earning him a glare from Obi-Wan.

"While he has been taking out numerous criminals, we still can't allow a Force-sensitive vigilante to freely roam the galaxy, especially if he decides to involve himself in the war again. But what I find most troubling is Padawan Tano's account of her encounter with Red Rogue." Says Kenobi, a look of concern appearing on his face.

"Yes, Ahsoka had said that while he seemed to be well-trained in the use of the Force, she couldn't sense him. It was as if Red Rogue wasn't even there." Anakin explains.

The fact alone that neither Ahsoka, nor Anakin or Obi-Wan, were able to sense Red Rogue's presence during the raid on Vindi's Lab was very troubling to the Jedi. Jedi philosophy states that there cannot be life without midi-chlorians, the very life-forms that connect all living beings to the Force. And yet, not only is Red Rogue very much alive, but he's also a Force user, all while not possessing even a trace of a Force Signature.

"hmmm, a disturbing fact about Red Rogue, this is. More difficult to find, this will make him. Find him and get answers, we must." Yoda states with the rest in the room agreeing with him.

 _A couple of minutes later…_

After the meeting had ended, Anakin was on his way back out into the city to continue looking for Red Rogue.

"Master! Wait up!"

Turning around, he sees Ahsoka running up to him.

"Hey Snips, shouldn't you be resting?" He asks.

"Very funny. After being stuck in bed for about a week, I'm finally feeling better. And now I'm ready to go out and catch Red Rogue." Ahsoka states. While he did save her life, Red had still kind of humiliated her by taking her lightsaber so that he could escape. Plus she had to take apart her lightsaber afterwards to make sure it hadn't been damaged when he dropped it and, while there was no real damage, there were a few new scratches on it which Ahsoka had to spend an hour or two polishing off.

"Well, it's good to see you on your feet again. Come on, let's go find Red Rogue, wherever he is." Anakin says to his padawan, gesturing her to come along.

"Whatever he's up to, I'm sure it involves him taking out a bunch of bad guys." Ahsoka says as they walk towards the hangar to find a speeder to ride in.

 _Meanwhile at the Loft…_

 **Jacob's POV**

Listening to Kendrick Lamar's "Illuminate" on my phone, I take another hit from my bong.

*FLICK*

'Inhale, hold it in for a few seconds...exhale.'

Blowing out some white smoke, I lie back even further into the couch as the weed starts to kick in. Well actually, it's not "marijuana" weed I'm smoking, I burned through the rest of that stash a few days ago. It's this new stuff I found out about called "Avabush". I first found a bag of it on some punk after I blew a big hole in the middle of his chest; I swear to god that the stuff looks and smells just like what I usually smoke. And this Avabush stuff is about as strong as Chronic.

Anyway, I'm so chilled out right now that nothing could ruin this mood, not even the usual broadcast of pessimism known as the news channel which about to be switched on by Anya who is just now sitting on the opposite side of the couch.

"Last night, a seven-year-old boy was stabbed to death while walking home from a friend's house. This has been the fifth murder this month. The suspect is believed to be a male Gran in his mid-thirties. Until the killer is found, police are urging parents to stay with their children." The news anchor reports.

Goddamn it. I can't be in a good mood for even 5 minutes without some dickhead doing something to ruin it. And what makes me even angrier is that a little kid got killed this time. Oh, when I find this 3-eyed bastard, I'm going to smash his goddamn face in.

"Force! What kind of monster would do that to a child?" Anya asks, obviously disturbed by the news.

"A sicko who needs to be drawn and quartered, that's who." I answer her question while setting down the bong on the coffee table and start putting my boots on.

"I'll be right back, I'm going to go find this fucker and make him pay."

"Jacob, wait." Anya says, stopping me.

"What?" I ask.

"Jacob, you've been running around the city almost nonstop since Naboo. You're stressed out and you need a day off." Anya points out.

She isn't wrong, I have been kicking more asses than usual after the whole fiasco with the Blue Shadow Virus. I haven't really been sleeping much either. But that doesn't mean I can just screw around while there's a fucking child killer on the loose.

"I take a day off after I blast this guy." I reply while walking by her, only for her to grab my arm.

"And as stressed out as you are, you're more liable to make mistakes." She counters.

There she goes again, making a pretty good argument. God, you really can't argue with some people.

"Fine, you want me to relax, then I'll relax. But I'm not doing it alone." I say to Anya as I sit back down on the couch and grab the bong off the table.

"Want a hit?" I offer.

"Oh, uhhh, I don't know Jacob. I'm not really into the idea of smoking something like Avabush." She replies.

"What are you, a square? You were willing to go ahead and put a tap on a government intelligence agency, but suddenly get all shy at the idea of smoking some of this. Eh, probably for the best if you didn't. You probably couldn't even handle one small puff." I say

"What? I can totally take a hit of what you're smoking." She retorts.

"Cannot."

"Can too."

"Cannot."

"Can too!"

"Cannot."

"OH JUST SHUT UP AND GIVE ME THE BONG ALREADY!" she shouts while snatching the bong from my hands.

"Okay, so how do I…" she begins to ask, having no idea how to smoke out of a bong.

*FLICK*

The sound snaps her attention back to me, more specifically the lighter I'm holding in my hand. So after explaining to her how a bong works and handing her my lighter, Anya takes her first hit.

*FLICK*

*(bubbling)*

And starts coughing, which doesn't surprise me since this is her first and probably only time.

"*cough* Oh, Jacob. *cough* I don't see how you can even… whoa." Anya begins to say before the Avabush kicks in.

"This feels… different."

"You only had a little bit. It'll wear off in a few minutes, so don't worry." I tell her before standing back up.

"So you want to go out and do stuff?" I ask.

"Yeah, totally." She answers while slowly getting up herself.

We begin making our way out to the bike, but then she stops me.

"First, your mask and pistol." Anya says to me, holding out her hand.

"Really?" I ask in response.

She doesn't reply, just stands there with her hand out, so I just go ahead and place my mask and WESTAR in her hand.

"And the knife."

"Oh come on, Anya! What if some assholes try to rob us?" I try to point out.

"Jacob, knife." She says firmly.

"Fine." I give in, pulling my knife out of my pocket and putting it in her hand.

She goes upstairs real quick, likely putting my stuff away, before coming back down empty-handed.

"Happy? Let's go." I say to her, a little frustrated that I'm now unarmed.

 _15 minutes later…_

So the first thing we decide to do is get some lunch since we both seem to have gotten really hungry after all that smoking. Anya told me about a place call Dexter's Diner that serves some pretty good food, so we went there. It was pretty crowded, so we had to wait a little bit before we could get a table. When we finally did, Anya and I order a Nerf steak for each of us along with some sodas. And here we are now.

"Hey, Anya. What's with that tooth headdress thing you're wearing? I saw your sister wearing one too." I ask before taking another bite of my steak, trying to start some small talk.

"What, this? It's an Akul-tooth headdress. I got it after I killed an Akul all by myself a few years ago." She explains as she takes another sip of her drink.

I pull out my phone and put "Akul" in the search bar. Within a second, I'm met with an image of what looks like a big, scarier version of a tiger without the stripes. Jesus, she killed one of those things? With what?

"What did use to kill yours?" I ask, really wanting to know what kind of firepower she had to use to bring down one of these things.

"A knife." She answers nonchalantly.

"Just a fuckin' knife? And you were like, what, 12 at the time? And you were by yourself?" I ask with a little concern.

"It's a rite of passage for my people. When we come of age, we are sent out alone to hunt an Akul. Some come back with the teeth, and some come back empty-handed while others… don't come back at all." Anya explains further.

On one hand, I should be totally disturbed by the fact that the Togruta people send their children out to hunt what is considered to be one of the most dangerous creatures in the galaxy going by the info I have pulled up on my phone. Though on the other hand, the fact that Anya and Ahsoka had both killed one without being maimed makes them more awesome. Honestly, I only have this to say.

"Well now I want to hunt one." I say to her

"What? Why?" Anya asks, obviously surprised.

"Well you killed a goddamn apex predator which would be considered the most dangerous game you can hunt where I'm from when you were just entering your teens while all I've been killing since I was thirteen are fucked up people! Those guys are easy to kill!" I try to explain why I want to go hunt an Akul now.

"Jacob, don't be ridiculous. You don't just go and hunt an Akul; they usually end up jumping you instead since they have very keen senses. And I've only killed twice in my life: the Akul and that one guy back at the Despot. Also, killing an Akul is way different than killing a person, and you've killed… wait, how many have you killed?"

Shit, that's a good question. Sure, I remember all my kills. I just haven't really been keeping count.

"I think… it was around two thousand before I got here." I answer.

Anya's jaw drops upon hearing that number.

"Two, two thousand…" she begins to say before I cut her off.

"And since I've gotten here, I think it's starting to get close to the twenty-five hundred range." I finish.

"Who even taught you to do that kind of stuff?" she asks.

"…someone who meant a lot to me. But that's a long story." I answer.

This is just a subject I really don't want to talk about. It's already bringing up some bad memories.

"…"

"Jacob?" Anya asks. She no longer had that freaked out look she had a few seconds ago. Now she just looked worried.

"Forget what I said about the Akul. Here comes our check." I say to her as the waiter approaches with our bill.

So after I get done paying for our food, I just start walking out the door towards my bike with Anya trying to catch up to me.

"Jacob, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-" Anya tries to apologize before I cut her off.

"Listen Anya, I'm not mad at you and you've got nothing to be sorry for. So where do want to go ne-"

*THUMP*

"Hey! Watch where you're going ya tail-headed whore!"

Instantly bolting around, I see Anya on the ground with some human skinhead-looking prick standing over her; it was obvious that the big fucker had bumped into her.

'WHAT THE FUCK!?'

This was NOT okay. Not if I have anything to say about it.

"What'd you just call her?" I ask him loudly while walking up.

"This ain't none of your business, so kriff off slimo." He says to me with a glare, clearly trying to intimidate me.

"She's my friend whom you just knocked over, so that makes it my business you fat fucking bitch!" I shout. He did not looked pleased with that insult and starts walking up on me.

"What'd you just call me?"

"Bitch!"

"WHAT'D YOU JUST CALL ME!?"

"BITCH!"

"KRIFF YOU!" he yells, his face burning red with anger.

He takes a swing at me. I dodge and land an uppercut dead center on his jaw before landing a haymaker on the side of his forehead with such force, it brings him to his knees. From there I just keep punching his ugly face until Anya finally pulls me back, allowing the prick to fall face-first onto the ground.

"Jacob stop! We need to go now!" she whispers into my ear.

She was right, the fight had of course attracted a crowd and someone had apparently called the cops since I could now hear distant sirens approaching. Shoving my way through some people, Anya and I quickly get on our ride and speed the hell out of there.

 _20 minutes later…_

As soon as we got far enough away from the diner, we stop and park the bike inside a parking garage.

"Are you alright Anya? I'm sorry that happened. I should've stayed next to you." I ask, feeling bad I wasn't able to get in between here and that asshole sooner.

"I'll be fine, don't worry about it…. Alright, so I think there's an arcade around here where we can have some fun at." Anya says, quickly changing the subject which I'm grateful for. After all, we're supposed to be having fun today.

"Sweet, let's go." I say as we both step off of the bike and start walking.

While I haven't really been to an arcade before, mostly because they're all going out of business thanks to gaming consoles like Xbox and PlayStation, I was pretty impressed by what kind of games they had inside the big arcade Anya leads me into. They had shoot 'em ups, racing, dancing, practically every game I can think of, and of course the place was filled with kids ranging from 10 all the way up to my age.

"Alright, let's go get some tokens." Anya says before walking to one of the many token machines in this place.

So after buying Anya and myself a bunch of tokens, the first game we play is one of the racing ones that kind of reminds me of Forza. After choosing our respective vehicles, the both of us get ready to start the race.

 _Ready_

 _Set_

 _Go!_

Anya and I peel off the starting line and speed down the race track. We both keep passing each other up throughout the whole race until she passes by me right at the last second before crossing the finish line on the final lap.

"Ha ha ha! Hey Jacob, I guess we knew who the better driver is now." Anya smiles at me smugly.

"I guarantee you that if this had been real life, I would have ran you off the road." I reply, smiling back. Despite losing, I really am having fun with my best friend right now.

"Alright Toretto, let's see if you can outshoot me." I challenge Anya while nodding towards a game called "Commando Raid".

"Oh, you are so on. I just have to use the refresher first." Anya tells me.

"Alright, I'll be here waiting for you to get back." I reply.

It's when Anya walks off that I notice someone who looks pretty out of place here. A Gran who looks to be a full-grown man is walking around the arcade like he's looking for someone until I see him follow some Twi'lek boy into the men's refresher.

Wait a minute, male Gran. Looks to be in his mid-30's… and just went into a secluded area with a boy.

'Fuck! It's him! The sick bastard that's been killing kids!'

I immediately rush to the refresher to stop the killer. By the time I burst through the door, the killer had the kid pinned against the wall with one hand and a knife in the other.

"Hey douchebag! Why don't try that with someone your own size?" I call him out while getting ready to fight.

The killer looks back and forth between me and the kid before locking his eyes on me with a sneer. "It would be my pleasure to gut you for sticking your nose where it doesn't belong!"

Letting the boy go, the killer comes at me with a jab from his knife. I dodge the jab and grab his arm before twisting it, forcing him to drop the knife. Unfortunately, he's able to land a punch on my left cheek, dazing me for a second. This gives him enough time to lift me up and throw me into the bathroom mirror, leaving behind a spider web-shaped crack. After falling from the sink to the floor, I catch a kick that was coming straight at my face just in time. Holding his right foot, I use my left leg to sweep his other leg, knocking him onto his back where I then proceeded to plant a knee on his chest and start whaling on his face. After 5 good punches, I pull him to his feet and shove him into one of the stalls. Slamming his head into the wall, I then force him onto his knees and shove his head into the toilet so that I can drown this piece of shit.

He starts to fight back real hard, even managing to elbow me in the ribs and getting his head out of the water, but I force him back down after ramming my fist into the back of his head. After almost a minute of holding his head down and punching him, he simply stops struggling. Pretty soon, the bubbles stop as well.

"See you in hell, motherfucker." I say to the dead killer with his head still in the toilet as I walk out of the stall to the sink to wash my hands.

As soon as the cold water makes contact with my right fist, pain flares up. Shit, I must've broke my knuckles on the last punch. But nothing a little Force Healing won't fix. After doing just that, I dry off my hands before remembering that there was a Twi'lek kid in here. Looking around, I see that one of the stall doors is locked shut, which more than likely means that the kid had locked himself in there as soon as I and the killer started fighting. I can sense the kid's fear as I approach the stall door and knock.

"Hey kid? Just want to let you know that the bad guy is, ummm, knocked out now. I don't know if you saw anything, whether you thought it was awesome or not, but I'd appreciate it if you'd forget whatever you just saw. Okay?"

There's no answer. Honestly, I don't blame the kid. When you see one scary dude who was just about to stab you to death inside the bathroom of an arcade get beaten and drowned by an equally or even more scary dude, I'd be worried about the other dude's intentions as well.

'Well, I tried reasoning. Maybe I should just give this kid a hundred bucks and hope he doesn't say anything- wait a minute, what am I doing? I can just use the Force.'

Using the Force to unlock and swing open the stall door, I approach the boy as he presses his back against the left corner of the stall while hyperventilating, looking like he was getting ready to scream.

"Calm down." I wave my hand in front of his face. His breathing instantly slows down to normal pace.

"You will forget everything you just saw here and go straight home." I wave my hand again.

"I will forget everything I just saw here and go straight home." The boy replies.

"Good kid." I say before making my way out, stopping by the stall where the killer's body is.

'Uh oh, before put this stall out of order before the kid or anyone else for that matter sees this.' I think to myself as I use the Force to close and lock the killer's stall.

I find Anya waiting in the spot where I said I'd be waiting for her.

"Where have you been?" She asks, obviously a little annoyed.

"I had to use to the refresher too. Ready to get your ass beat?" I say playfully, immediately forgetting how I'd just killed the child killer from the news in the bathroom.

"Are you?" she counters with the same playful tone.

After waiting our turn, we put some of our tokens into the Commando Raid game. The game itself had a big holo-screen and two wireless blaster controllers on each side for two players to use. When we start the game, we're immediately attacked by what looks like Trandoshans with wings. I immediately start blasting as many as I can to keep Anya from getting a higher score than me, though she's turning out to be a pretty good shot herself. Together, we're just blasting away anything that pops up on the screen before any one of them can get a hit on us.

"Geez, these two are really good at this." I hear some kid behind us comment.

'Oh, you have no idea kid.'

Anya and I had already attracted a small crowd by the time we reach the final boss. It's some really big dude with what looks like a minigun. We instantly start pumping him with bolts as soon as the minigun starts to spin up, but our shots apparently aren't doing shit to him as his health bar hadn't gone down one bit. Our own health bars were already taking a beating as he sprays up with blasterfire. That's when I notice all the red barrels he was standing close by.

"Anya, shoot the barrels!"

"Got it!"

Shooting the explosive barrels seems to do the trick. We just barely managed to kill the final boss before either of our health bars ran out, therefor beating the game. The crowd behind us immediately starts cheering and applauding us. Turning to them, I decide to give them my best Elvis impression.

"Thank you, thank you very much."

Turning back to the screen, I watch as the game tallies up our scores.

'Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on,'

The scores are VERY close, but I end up coming out on top by 5 points.

"Woooo! High score!" I shout, making Anya laugh.

The both of us walk off from the game to let other people have their turn and to find other games to burn through the rest of our tokens.

 _An hour later… I think…_

After going through our remaining tokens and building up a nice stack of tickets, I get Anya a teddy bear-like stuffed toy while she gets me a laser pointer. And before I forget, I "remind" the cashier to do something real quick.

"Your boss wants you to erase today's security footage." I wave my hand.

"My boss wants me to erase today's security footage." The cashier replies before walking off to do just that.

"Jacob, what was that about?" Anya asks, confused by what I just did.

"I'll explain when we're outside." I tell her as we walk out the door.

Though once we're outside, I'm surprised to find that it was already starting to get dark out. How long were we in there for? I pull out my phone to find out.

8:31

"Jesus! We were in there for five hours!?" I exclaim.

"Well time flies when you're playing video games." Anya points out.

"Now why did you tell that guy to erase the security footage?"

"Alright so remember that one psycho on the news, the one who's been going around murdering kids?" I ask as we walk back to where we parked the bike. Anya's eyes widen when I mention that guy.

"What!? Are you telling me that guy was in there!?" She asks, caught completely off guard by this news.

"Yeah, I saw him following a boy into the bathr- I mean refresher, so I went in and stopped him just in time. We struggled for a bit, and then I drowned him in a toilet." I explain.

"Ewww. That's just gross." Anya comments, clearly a little disgusted by how I killed him.

"Gross, but a pretty fitting end for that son of a bitch. I'm just surprised that nobody found the body yet."

"So what about the boy?"

"Huh? Oh, right. I used a mind trick to make him forget what happened and go home." I further explain.

"And you had that guy erase the security footage because the cameras may have caught both you and the killer entering the refresher before you stepped back out, which would have implicated you in killing him." Anya says, putting the final piece in the puzzle.

"Bingo." I confirm.

We finally reach the speeder bike, though I can sense that Anya's a little disappointed as we both get on.

"We're supposed to be just having fun today, yet somehow your… job manages to find us."

"Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa. I didn't call that guy there, and I certainly didn't tell him to try to kill that kid. And if I hadn't done something that kid would be the one dead in that refresher right now while that three-eyed asswipe would be out looking for someone else to kill. And we still had plenty of fun back there didn't we?" I look over my shoulder at Anya.

"Yeah, we did. I just wish that guy hadn't been there." Anya states, still looking a little upset.

"I'll tell you what. Since it's getting late now, how about we hit up a nightclub. A totally legit one of course." I propose, quickly adding in that last part.

"A nightclub? But we're too young to even go inside of one." Anya points out.

"Well then it's a good thing I can be very persuasive." I grin as I start the bike.

 _Meanwhile, back at the arcade…_

 **3** **rd** **Person POV**

Anakin and Ahsoka arrive at the scene where Red Rogue may have just struck given who the dead man inside is, despite how bizarre the location is. Police droids already had the arcade locked down and were taking statements from everyone there. One of the droids approaches the two Jedi.

"Right this way." It tells them as it leads them inside and towards the men's refresher.

"You may have to wait out here, Snips." Anakin jokes.

Ahsoka just rolls her eyes as the three of them enter the refresher. They both glance at the cracked mirror as well as the knife on the floor before looking into the stall where the killer's body lies on his back. However, there were no gunshot or stab wounds on the body.

"Cause of death?" Anakin asks the police droid.

"Drowning, sir." It answers.

"Drowning? How could you possibly drown someone in here?" Ahsoka asks.

Both Jedi then look at the toilet the body was lying next to and cringe when they make the connection.

"Ewww, that's just gross." Ahsoka says.

"No argument there. Do you have the victim's identity?" Anakin asks the droid.

"Silas Grax, age 36. And may be the culprit behind several child murders." The droid informs them.

"What?" Anakin asks, both he and his padawan surprised by this. They had guessed that this guy had been some kind of criminal, but not a serial killer.

"The knife we found had Grax's prints on it, and traces of the victims' blood were found on the blade

"Alright, so Grax was here to kill someone and Red Rogue tracked him here to stop him. How did none of the many people inside this place see a crazy guy in a red mask come in?" Ahsoka asks.

Both Jedi thought for a moment. A red masked heavily armed man entering a busy arcade would have definitely drawn a lot of attention, if not outright cause a panic.

"Perhaps no one noticed Red Rogue because he wasn't wearing his mask nor was he visibly armed. But why wouldn't he have his mask when he killed Grax?" Anakin wonders out loud.

"…Maybe he wasn't here for Grax. Maybe he was just playing games in here when he saw Grax. He was likely unarmed, which would explain why he didn't just shoot Grax and instead drowned him." Ahsoka theorizes.

"That would actually make a lot of sense. Nice one, Snips. Let's go see if the security cameras caught Red's face." Anakin says while walking out of the refresher.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible, sir." States the police droid.

"Why not?" Anakin asks, turning back to the droid.

"An employee here had apparently erased the security footage for today. Said he did it because he thought his boss told him too." The droid explains.

"Red must have used a mind trick before leaving." Ahsoka says.

"Great. We're still on square one then. Looks like we decided to look for him on his day off." Says Anakin, frustrated that they're still no closer to finding Red Rogue.

"I wonder where he is now."

 _Meanwhile, at some nightclub…_

 **Jacob's POV**

Anya and I finally get our drinks after waiting at our table for about 12 minutes. I had ordered us a bottle of this expensive whiskey from Corellia called Whyren's Reserve.

'Heh, good thing I made the bartender think it's on the house.'

After I get done pouring both our drinks, I look at Anya, who's looking at her drink nervously.

"First time drinking?" I loudly ask so that she can hear me over the music being played in here.

"No, it's not that. I've been to parties and drank beer before. It's just…" Anya trails off.

"Never had the hard stuff before, or you've just never been drunk?" I guess two more times.

But Anya still remains silent.

'Damn, it looks like something's really bothering her, but what? It's just one drink… Oh, shit. What happened to her last time she stopped for a drink…'

"Anya, listen." I say to her, reaching across the table to place my hand on top of hers to get her attention.

"I know where you ended up after the last time you had a drink, and believe me, I don't want anything like that ever happening to you again, nor will I let it. But the same thing won't happen here; I've already used my senses to make sure this place is legit and it is, otherwise we wouldn't still be here. And I swear I won't let anyone hurt you." I tell her, meaning every single word. I _will not_ let anyone take anymore friends away from me.

 _No one._

I can already sense Anya's anxiety melting away as she meets my eyes and smiles.

"Thank you so much, Jacob. That really does mean a lot to me." she says to me while picking up her drink.

"And you're the whole reason we're having fun today." I reply while picking up my own drink.

"Cheers."

Tapping our glasses together, the both of us down our first round of drinks.

 _F-five… six… uhhhhhh….the whole bottle later…_

Geez, I haven't- I haven't been this loaded in a while, and Anya is looking pretty tipsy herself. That Whyren's is some good shit. My hearing's dulled and I'm starting to see double, but I'm still standing just fine.

Wait, I'm standing now? Oh, hold on; Anya's pulling me by the arm onto the dance floor now. Dancing… actually sounds pretty good.

Anya and I dance with other for about, I don't know, five, ten minutes. Suddenly, we're pressed up against each other. Her arms were around my neck while mine were on her hips.

'God, she's so beautiful.'

Before I even realize it, I have one of my hands on her ass.

'Fuck, how'd that get there!?'

I quickly try to pull my hand back up, but to my shock Anya pushes it back down. She has a mischievous grin on her face as she pulls my head down towards her's.

 _Across the street from the nightclub…_

 **3** **rd** **Person POV**

"Alright, that's it. Come on Ahsoka, let's call it a night and head back to the Temple." Anakin says, tired of looking for a vigilante who's clearly on his day off.

"Ugh, I can't belief this is the one time he isn't out shooting gangsters. Just our luck." Ahsoka complains, very annoyed that she hasn't seen a certain red-masked jerk anywhere today.

"Don't worry Snips. We can try again tomorrow; Red Rogue's definitely going to be out here then." Anakin reassures his padawan.

"Yeah, I guess you're right master. Though I'm still wondering what the heck he does in his free time." Ahsoka says while walking with her master towards their parked speeder.

As if on cue, a certain male Human and female Togruta who doesn't look that much older than Ahsoka come staggering out of the nightclub across the street from the two Jedi. The young man had his arm wrapped around the young woman's shoulder while she had both of her arms wrapped around his torso, both of them laughing until they stopped by a parked speeder bike. They then both lean into each other and kiss. Chuckling, Anakin points out the display to Ahsoka.

"Hey Snips, check out the couple over there."

"Well, at least some people are enjoying their night." Ahsoka giggles as she stares at the two.

It's hard to tell from where she's at, but both the boy and the girl somehow look familiar to Ahsoka in different ways, particularly the boy. There's just something about that jacket he's wearing…

"Are you coming Ahsoka?" Anakin asks while starting their speeder, breaking Ahsoka out of her train of thought.

Briefly looking at her master and back at the couple, Ahsoka sees that the two have parted from each other's lips and are already riding off on the speeder bike.

"Right behind you master." She says before climbing into the speeder.

 _The next morning…_

 **Jacob's POV**

'Ahhh, fuck. My head.' I think to myself as I awaken.

Man, I haven't partied like that in a while, though now I have this hangover to deal with. At least I'm in this warm and comfy bed.

'Wait, bed? I sleep on the couch. Who's bed am I laying on- Ohhhhh shit.'

I open my eyes and see that I'm in the bedroom of the loft, but that's not what alarms me. It's the person who's making the bed feel so warm to me who does.

Anya, who is currently still asleep, is cuddling me. And it seems that I'm doing the same with her.

First thing I do is immediately make sure we're both still dressed and, thankfully, we both are. I even still had my jacket on.

'Okay, we didn't have sex. That would have really complicated things between us. Now to see if I can slip out of here and back downstairs without waking her.'

But that's the problem. We have our arms wrapped around each other, Anya even has one of her legs over one of mine. As far as I can tell, there's no way I can get out of this bed without waking Anya. I guess all I can do now is prepare for the very awkward moment that will occur if she wakes up. If she doesn't freak out and jump out of bed that is.

…

…

…

Despite being in this position, it does feel nice to be in a bed with a woman who's embracing me, even if it is my best friend. I just don't know if she'll be having the same thoughts when she wakes up.

Speaking of which, I feel Anya begin to stir. She groans before she opens her eyes which are met with mine. We just lie there and stare into each other's eyes for a full minute. No freak outs, no movement, not even a word until I decide to break the ice, though I do notice her lekku begin to darken.

"Anya?" I ask.

"…Yeah?" she replies.

"We overdid with the whiskey last night, didn't we?" I ask again.

"If the hangover I have right now is anything to go by, then yes. We had too much to drink last night." Anya agrees.

Another moment of awkward silence ensues, and we STILL haven't stopped cuddling each other.

"You want to go get some breakfast?" I ask, trying to give us just about any reason to get out of bed and try to forget this moment ever happened.

"Breakfast is sounding pretty good right about now." Anya quickly answers, finally letting go of me.

We both quickly get out of bed, finally ending the moment.

"Great, let's go then." I say as the both of us walk downstairs and to the balcony where the speeder bike is surprisingly parked in its usual spot despite how drunk I was last night.

Getting on the bike, we ride off towards Dexter's without saying another word to each other.


End file.
